Hi Eduardo, nice to read you here too....
I think Michelin and its partner teams were ridiculous. They wanted a chicane to reduce the turn 13 speed, because they had a lot of bad tires !!! All this year, Ferrari has suffer a loss of grip with its Bridgstone tires and never suggested a chicane to reduce the speed of any circuit.
The FIA position is clear:
In a strongly worded statement, the sport’s governing body said that adding a chicane to the Indianapolis track – as requested by Michelin – was never a realistic option.
The FIA instead suggested to Michelin that their cars should voluntarily drive through the crucial Turn 13 at a reduced speed.
“We were told by Michelin that their tyres would be unsafe unless their cars were slowed in the main corner,” the statement read.
“We understood and among other suggestions offered to help them by monitoring speeds and penalising any excess.
“However, the Michelin teams refused to agree unless the Bridgestone runners were slowed by the same amount. They suggested a chicane.
“The Michelin teams seemed unable to understand that this would have been grossly unfair as well as contrary to the rules.
“The Bridgestone teams had suitable tyres. They did not need to slow down.
“The Michelin teams' lack of speed through Turn 13 would have been a direct result of inferior equipment, as often happens in Formula 1.”
The FIA categorically dismissed the chicane option advocated by the Michelin teams.
“A chicane would have forced all cars, including those with tyres optimised for high speed, to run on a circuit whose characteristics had changed fundamentally – from ultra-high speed to very slow and twisting,” said the FIA statement.
“It would also have involved changing the circuit without following any of the modern safety procedures, possibly with implications for the cars and their brakes.
“It is not difficult to imagine the reaction of an American court had there been an accident (whatever its cause) with the FIA having to admit it had failed to follow its own rules and safety procedures.”
Although the statement made no specific reference to possible penalties, it was heavily critical of Michelin’s conduct.
“(F1’s rules) cannot be negotiated each time a competitor brings the wrong equipment to a race,” it read.
“The FIA wrote to all of the teams and both tyre manufacturers on June 1, 2005, to emphasise that ‘tyres should be built to be reliable under all circumstances’.
“Each team is allowed to bring two types of tyre: one an on-the-limit potential race winner, the other a back-up which, although slower, is absolutely reliable.
“Apparently, none of the Michelin teams brought a back-up to Indianapolis.
“Rather than boycott the race the Michelin teams should have agreed to run at reduced speed in Turn 13.
“The rules would have been kept, they would have earned Championship points and the fans would have had a race.
“As it is, by refusing to run unless the FIA broke the rules and handicapped the Bridgestone runners, they have damaged themselves and the sport.”
Regards
Carlos
