The problem wasn't the surface, and the chicane was not to avoid a
particular spot on the track. The problem was the turn and the speed
at which the drivers were taking it. The turn was a wide fast Indy
turn, and the cars were going quite fast in that area. The idea of
the chicane was to slow them down in that spot so the Michilen tires
would survive better.
I have to agree with Ferrari on this one. To change the course AFTER
qualifying and practice is just not fair. The teams on Michelins knew
they had tire wear problems, and they did have the option of running
that portion of the course more slowly or changing tires during the
race. Either way they would not have been competitive, but at least
the FANS would have gotten to see a race.
I feel really bad for the folks who took time off work, spent an
absurd amount of money for a ticket, and and even more absurd amount
of money for a hotel room, and then got cheated by this. If I had
been in that situation, I would have been very very upset. In my
opinion F1 just shot itself in the foot. Tony George probably has too
much invested to tell them to bugger off, but I think that's exactly
what he needs to do.
After this, F1 will be lucky to sell 50,000 tickets to another race in
the US. In IRL, NASCAR, CART, and other series, there is plenty of
politics and bickering, but at least the fans get to see a race.
John
On 6/20/05, Robert E. Shlafer <pilotrob@webtv.net> wrote:
> Hmmmm.....
> Wish they had simply resolved the "problem" with a temporary chicane
> around the "questionable" surface, assuming this was a REAL issue for the
> Michelins.
>
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= Never offend people with style when you =
= can offend with substance --- Sam Brown =
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