Why are the Michelin sitting out the race? Or were they ruled too unsafe to race?
Seems Michelin brought bad tires, which resulted in at least 3 crashes among the Michelin teams in practice; and with the F1 tire rules (including having the tires being approved long before the race, not having more than 4 sets available, and having to start on the tires you qualified on), they decided that those peon US fans wouldn't get as much money than an injured driver.
They had two rear left failure in practice and they don't know why. Ralph had another hard crash in turn 13. They flew out replacement tires, but not in time for qualifying. It is beyond me and the crowd why they didn't replace the LR after lap one. The tasteless fans are now throwing stuff on the track endangering lives.