U.S Grand Prix

[RedsBaron]

Gentlemen, start your lawsuits.
Citing concerns regarding driver safety, 7 of the ten Formula 1 teams refused to compete in yesterday's U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Michelin had requested that it be allowed to substitute another tire after a practice accident-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone denied the request. Ferrari then vetoed a suggestion that a chicane be placed in turn 13 to hold down speeds.
As a result, only 6, rather than 20, cars "competed" in the race. Most fans left the poorly attended "race"; many of those who remained threw things on the track. It is rumored that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will cancel its contract with F1.
In other news, Ecclestone commented on Danica Patrick's recent race in the Indianapolis 500. After saying she did "a good job," Ecclestone added: "You know, I've got one of those wonderful ideas. Women should be all dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances."

[registerthis]

Very strange...doesn't sound like anyone was happy after that.

[jmcclain19]

F1 amazes me how they continue to shoot themselves in the foot.

At times, it can be the most amazing racing in the world. But they always find a way to knock themselves down a few pegs.

[Roy Tucker]

Shoot themselves in the foot, heck, they blasted F1 racing in the US between the eyes with a .357 Magnum.

F1 technology and skill is second to none, but that's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. No wonder NASCAR has taken over American auto racing. They understand their market. F1 has a "build it and they will come" mentality.

[Danny Serafini]

I've been to each F1 race at Indy. This was the first year I didn't go. Gotta love that timing!

[RedsBaron]

Shoot themselves in the foot, heck, they blasted F1 racing in the US between the eyes with a .357 Magnum.

F1 technology and skill is second to none, but that's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. No wonder NASCAR has taken over American auto racing. They understand their market. F1 has a "build it and they will come" mentality.
The technology and skill are unquestioned, but too many F1 races have been a bore. The technology has often overwhelmed the racing, with few passes for position and too many races little more than a parade. F1 already ranked well behind not only NASCAR but even Indycar in the average American racefan's priorities, but this fiasco will be hard for F1 to overcome here.
I'm still amazed by Ecclestone's boorish comments about women, but I guess if you are a billionaire you can get away with such nonsense. What a colossal jerk.

[Newport Red]

Haven't been a big fan since Prost - my favorite. The Senna / Mansell rivalry was fun but then it became a no pass circuit as mentioned above. Then Schumacher owned it for so long.

This is the kind of train wreck to make me tune in again.

[paintmered]

They've got the best drivers in the world. They've got the most expensive and technologically advanced cars in the world. Yet, the racing suffers because of it. They've got a large, untapped market here in the U.S. and this past race is going to ensure it remains untapped for years to come.

Wouldn't you think that F1 and its teams would be contractually obligated to compete at Indy? If I am an Indy offical, I'm suing F1 bigtime. Think of all the lost future revinue they've forfeited because of this stunt - all after renovating the track so they could race there to begin with.

If you aren't happy with the tires, there is a competetor out there. Sounds like a perfectly good reason to switch.

[UKFlounder]

If you aren't happy with the tires, there is a competetor out there. Sounds like a perfectly good reason to switch.

The heck with competitors - Michelin - not the teams - admitted their tire might not be safe, so why not let them fly in a new set. Have a little flexibility in your rules instead of being so arrogant as to think your rules are perfect and that no change is needed.

It's this kind of arrogance - just as a couple of years ago when Schumacher's team ordered his teammate to move over and let Schumacher pass - that hurts them as much as the overreliance on big budgets and technology.

I've never really been a fan of F1 & likely never will, but I just found the stubborness to be over the top. Hurt your own product in an untapped market by not helping your competitors.

Oh well - that's their problem, I suppose.

[RedsBaron]

My local paper had a column this morning from Bob Kravitz, a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. He wrote that Ecclestone had complained on Friday that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway folks don't do a good enough job of selling the race to local motor sports fans. Kravitz suggested that the race be promoted next year with the slogan: "The United States Grand Prix: This time, we think they'll show up."
Good riddance.

[Roy Tucker]

Yeah, F1 lost its cache with me a long time ago.

My brother and I used to be huge race fans. We used to hit the US Grand Prix races at Watkins Glen up through the 70's, went to Mosport in Canada for the Canadian races (nver made it to Montreal when it moved), and we went to Detroit for the first couple years when they had F1 races through downtown Detroit and around the Renaissance Center.

We'd go to Mid Ohio for the Can-Am races (Mark Donahue, George Folmer, etc) and were corner workers for several Trans-Am and Formula 5000 races. Went to Lime Rock, Nelsons Ledges, Road America, etc etc. It was great fun.

Heck, on weekends where we had nothing going, we'd got to Kil Kare in Dayton for the modifieds and figure 8's. Did autocrosses as well.

But the budgets of F1 got to be too big, ticket prices got to be too big, they started to not cater to the common man and made it into a $$$ corporate event. And, there was little real racing that went on. The breathtaking spectacle of the speed and cars just wasn't enough.

F1 races would consist of the pole sitter running away with the race and us hoping that he'd break and some guy 2 laps back would suddenly be in the lead. It wasn't worth the money and I just lost my interest.

Ditto with Indy car racing and the spat between CART and IRL. They diluted the talent, got into some internal wrangling that I just did not care about, and they lost me as a fan.

The huge egos of F1 and Indy cars created a vacuum that NASCAR very cannily moved into. But I never caught the NASCAR bug. The road courses are interesting, but 3 car wide left hand roundy-rounds just don't float my boat. I'm a snob I guess.

My brother still passionately follows it all, but I moved on to other things.

[Chip R]

In other news, Ecclestone commented on Danica Patrick's recent race in the Indianapolis 500. After saying she did "a good job," Ecclestone added: "You know, I've got one of those wonderful ideas. Women should be all dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances."
That was a nice little shot at Danica that didn't get much attention.

[RedsBaron]

In other news, Ecclestone commented on Danica Patrick's recent race in the Indianapolis 500. After saying she did "a good job," Ecclestone added: "You know, I've got one of those wonderful ideas. Women should be all dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances."
I just read that Ecclestone made the exact same remark directly to Danica Patrick in a telephone discussion with her, telling her women should be dressed in white just like other domestic appliances. What an insufferable jerk.