maybe i'm being an idealist here, but hows this for a wacky idea: the last three teams running pull their cars too, at some stage during the "race", a show of support for their stricken bretheren, i know its all big business and that, but dammit this is balls, gonna watch the cheerleading championships on ESPN instead.....

I don't effin believe it - this is completely beyond comprehension - I'm speechless....

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=33185

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=33183

... for those who, like me, saw this thread then got a bit confused

Michelin must have known what to expect at this track and should have been prepared.They've let the sport down big time!

seems its down to the indy track being a non testing track.bridgestone supply for the indy racing and got data on the new surface last week so were better prepared. so they say anyway(they being ITV)

I missed the last two races at Oulton Park to make it back for the Grand Prix. Wish i hadn't now. Its such a farce.

schumacher won

It wasn't even funny watching six cars go round and round, only one interesting bit when Schumacher and Barichello nearly pushed each other off

Helz said:

It wasn't even funny watching six cars go round and round, only one interesting bit when Schumacher and Barichello nearly pushed each other off

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yep

shows how much schumacher wanted the pit nearly taking his team m8 out

first time i watched f1 in ages possibly last , watched btcc too today, much better

there was no real solution really, too many people to please and too many idiots making decisions

Did Minardi race, if so it will be there only points of the season!

AppleSei said:

Did Minardi race, if so it will be there only points of the season!

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be schumachers only win of the season too

im sure i read in the paper that if there is less than 12 cars starting it gets called off, am i right or have i just made it up

They can call it off if there are less than 12 cars, on this occasion they chose not to

Complete and utter shambles. Competes with the 1975 Spanish GP and the 1982 San Marino GP.
Feel sorry for all the people that spent money on tickets and then some more travelling across the US and beyond.
Also felt sorry for Monteiro too.
I reckon FIA should have waived the 5 regulations that prevented Michelin from using the 'Barcelona spec' tyres and, to make things fair, enabled Bridgestone to change tyres if they wanted to. Michelin shouldn't have made this mistake in the first place. They should have known that the track had been resurfaced with the diamond cut surface and that the tyre characteristics would need to be different to account for the extra heat produced by the extra friction.
'Course, a chicane would have been a fairly good idea.

Hmm, I am not sure how much you can blame Michelin, could they really have known before the race week? No....when they did, they tried everything to sort it out but it was refused. I think Michelin deserve a pat on the back (I know I will be one of a small group thinking that) by not allowing their tyres to be used preventing possibly fatal crashes.

If they had the same data as Bridgestone I am sure everything would have been fine for them....

It was a shambles, hence why I started this thread, but I am a bit dismayed about why Michelin are being frowned on so much.

gaz_wrexham said:

be schumachers only win of the season too

im sure i read in the paper that if there is less than 12 cars starting it gets called off, am i right or have i just made it up

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More than 12 cars did start but they pulled into the pitlane after the first lap. Therefore the race carried on. I think that rule covers if something goes wrong with the car so they can't race, not just cos the racers decided not to race

gaz_wrexham said:

watched btcc too today, much better

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Gaz, have a gander at the world touring car championship next time its on better still than the BTCC.
Its on Eurosport or Channel 4 really late

GP was a joke and i'm a massive fan.> wasn't even happy to see my guys "win"
Gotta feel sorry for Montero. poss his only podium ever and under such crappy circumstances.

Well, there was some discussion (on ITV) about the sport moving to a single tyre manufacturer. I hope it doesn't, IMO tyre changes should be reintroduced into the sport. What they need to do is allocate an equal amount of betget to each team for R&D so Ferrari and McClaren can't spend 10x the budget of the other teams. There should be no standardisation of Chassis, Aerodynamics, or Tyres (and there isn't but its all heading this way), these should be bespoke to each team. Each team should be able to spend their budget as they see fit.

Back on to pit stops, this made the sport exciting, now all you see is the cars circulating around the track, and stopping only in order to keep going. I don't think the new regulations make it more interesting.

I hope they sort everything out for the 2007 season (by which time I think there will be no in-car radios... another mistake)

Does anybody else remember when Goodyear, Bridgestone and Michelin were the tyre manufactures for F1, perhaps the key is to introduce more manufacturers, so even if the same situation happens again, more cars will still be able to race?

darkcircuitUK said:

More than 12 cars did start but they pulled into the pitlane after the first lap. Therefore the race carried on. I think that rule covers if something goes wrong with the car so they can't race, not just cos the racers decided not to race

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does the parade lap count as the first lap?