Fans Upset With Grand Prix Fiasco

Sunday's events at the track left race fans from around the world shocked and angry.

News 8 talked to dozens of people and the common theme was that they may have came here as die-hard F-1 fans but they left not wanting to ever watch another race again.

Thousands of other fans shared that sentiment and were not shy about expressing their anger.

Most fans blamed the fiasco on F-1 rules, others on the company responsible for the faulty tires.

One fan explained his sentiment, "I drove all the way from Nashville with my boy and this is a terrible, terrible travesty. And we won't be coming back, renewing anything, and we're done with formula One."

Swat teams, sheriff's deputies, and dozens of state police were all on hand after the race started with plans in place in the event of a riot. Fortunately, fans staged non-violent protests.

Many were chanting, "Refund! Refund! Refund! Refund!" While others lined up outside the speedway administration building demanding refunds, "Somebody has to pay for the time and the money that we have spent. Some people have flown from around the world just to see this race and Americans as well," an outraged fan told News 8.

Others returned memorabilia for a sport they say they love no longer, "I want to return this t-shirt. I want my money back for it. I don't want to support F-1 anymore. This is a joke. This is a joke," one fan said.

Another fan agreed, "If they can't do the right thing, then cancel the race. Don't bring people in for something like this. This is stupid."

As for the future of F-1 racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Fans say don't hold your breath. Some fans think that after this contract's run out, it will not be here. They say next year's the last year and they think attendance will be down because of Sunday's events.

Speedway officials say no word yet on whether fans will get ticket refunds but one fan said even if that happens he's still never coming back

NDIANAPOLIS - Formula One fans were outraged by the withdrawal of all but six cars before the start of the United States Grand Prix on Sunday.

The other 14 cars, representing the seven teams that use Michelin tires, pulled off the track after the warmup lap because of safety concerns and a failure to reach a compromise that would have allowed them to compete.

Many people left the race and demanded ticket refunds.

"I came all the way from South America, from Bolivia, to watch this thing. But for me, this is the last time that I go to Formula One," said one man, who identified himself only as Gustavo. "I'm not only speaking for myself, but probably for a lot of people who come from different parts of the world to watch only six stupid people."

Another fan called it "an absolute outrage."

"I have been to this race every year they've had it here," fan Joe Huling said. "My brothers and I have followed Formula One since the '70s and have never seen anything as outrageous as this."

The cars that raced were the Ferraris of winner Michael Schumacher and runner-up Rubens Barrichello, the Jordans of Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan and the Minardis of Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher. All were running on Bridgestone tires.

Joie Chitwood, chief operating officer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said track officials would look at the possibility of ticket refunds in the next few days.

Meanwhile, officials from the Grand Prix of Cleveland, part of the Champ Car series, said Sunday that they would honor tickets from the United States Grand Prix at their June 26 event.

___ NO BLAME:@ A subdued Michael Schumacher, who won his fourth U.S. Grand Prix with only token opposition by teammate Rubens Barrichello, admitted he had mixed emotions.

"Certainly today was a very unique Grand Prix, but to be honest, it wasn't in our hands," Schumacher said. "There's nothing we could have done. ... I don't know what their (Michelin) problem was, but it wasn't our problem."

Schumacher was aware that many fans were booing.

"But there were a lot of people yelling. There were still a lot of supporters there, being happy with what we did," he said.

The fiasco won't destroy F1 in the United States, Schumacher predicted.

"We've had good ones, we had a difficult one, and we'll have good ones again," he said.

___ NO COMPROMISE:@ Formula One put politics above sport, said Paul Stoddart, the team principal for Minardi.

"Nine of the 10 competing teams had agreed that in the interests of safety, a temporary chicane needed to be placed before the final turn," Stoddart said.

The idea was rejected by FIA President Max Mosley, and "in no uncertain terms, the teams were told that, should this occur, there would be no race," he said.

"I have complete sympathy with the Michelin teams and can take neither satisfaction from nor interest in this afternoon's race, if you can call it that," he said.

___ NO CELEBRATION:@ The happiest driver may have been Tiago Monteiro of Portugal, whose third place gave him his first F1 points and first podium finish.

Monteiro, who drives for Jordan, qualified 17th on Saturday and knew he didn't have a competitive car — until the boycott eliminated almost all of the competition.

"We always hope for a crazy race, to get the points. But I would never imagine a situation like that," Monteiro said. "It is a sad race. It's a shame what happened, but I'm happy, really excited, myself."

___ TRULLI SORRY:@ Jarno Trulli, who would have started from the pole, called the withdrawal of the Michelin Seven a "shame for Formula One" but the only reasonable option.

"We all knew ... to run and finish the race was too dangerous," the Toyota driver said. "But that's life. Sometimes these things can happen. ... We have analyzed data, and Michelin has analyzed data. They felt we were in danger today, so it was as simple as that."

Trulli said he wasn't upset that Ferrari decided to race.

"Ferrari was right where they expect the rules were clear from the race director," he said. "That's the rules. If you cannot race, you do not race."

___ TIRE TURNS:@ The tire problem that limited Sunday's race to six drivers was caused by the banking in the final turn, which is Turn 1 of Indy's regular oval course but Turn 13 of the reconfigured road course used for the this race.

Michelin said going into that turn — the only one that is banked — puts added stress on the tires at high speed.

"The corner is not a corner," said David Coulthard, whose Red Bull Racing was one of the seven F1 teams that pulled out after the warmup lap.

"We come through the oval. ... It is an easy corner, but the reality is it takes a lot of stress in the tire. We are just not designed to drive those types of corners at these speeds."

Rubens Barrichello, whose Ferrari team uses Bridgestone, said he had no problem with the tires in practice or qualifications.

"We have in the past, but we've sorted them out," he said. "With the rules like they are, there will be a time when you bring a couple types of tires for the track. There will be times you get it wrong."

___ PIT STOPS:@ Red Bull was fined $3,000 because driver David Coulthard drove in reverse in the pits during practice Saturday. ... David Saelens of Belgium won Sunday's Porsche Michelin Supercup support race by 1 second over Alessandro Zampedri. Saelens also won the first Supercup race Saturday, his first victory of the season. ... Richard Philippe of Key Biscayne, Fla., won the second Formula BMW race Sunday, beating Tobias Hegewald of Germany by 4.2 seconds. Australian James Davison, who won the first BMW race Saturday, was 23rd, one lap down.

Michelin cars pull off track after warmups

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Michael Schumacher climbed from his car to a chorus of boos, the die-hard Formula One fans unable to accept his first victory of the season after more than two-thirds of the field quit in protest over tire safety.

Sparking a fiasco for a series desperate to capture the American audience, Michelin advised the 14 cars it supplies that its tires were unsafe for the final banked turn at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Unable to forge a compromise, all 14 Michelin teams ducked off the track after the warmup lap Sunday, leaving Schumacher and the five other drivers who use Bridgestone tires to race among themselves.

Fans headed for the exits in disgust, drivers were left bewildered and track officials joined team members in speaking afterward as if the United States Grand Prix itself is in jeopardy.

Schumacher returned to the podium, but there was no champagne toast for the Ferrari team on this Sunday.

"Bit of a strange Grand Prix," Schumacher said. "Not the right way to win my first one this year."

When an agreement couldn't be reached over the use of fresh tires or the placement of a chicane to slow the cars going into turn 13, the Michelin teams pulled off the track and parked in a unified protest.

"I feel terrible. I have a sick feeling in my stomach," David Coulthard said after pulling out of the race. "I am embarrassed to be a part of this."

The situation created a farce of a race for F-1, the world's most popular series. And it couldn't have happened at a worse venue: The series is already struggling to build an American fan base, and Indy officials were left unsure of the event's future.

"Undoubtedly, this sets us back in all of our efforts or all of the gains we've made in introducing this sport to America," said Joie Chitwood, track president. He declined to speculate on if the race would be back at Indy next season.

But even the Ferrari team, which finally scored its first win of the season, acknowledged that the series' future in the U.S. is in trouble.

"I wish we can come back to the States, this is a very important country and our No. 1 market," said Ferrari boss Jean Todt. "But this is a very bad day for our sport and I feel bad for the supporters."

Many blamed Ferrari itself -- the Italian team was the lone holdout in a series of compromises the nine other teams frantically tried to reach.

After two Michelin tires failed in Friday practice sessions -- one causing a wreck that prevented Ralf Schumacher from competing -- the tiremaker ruled that its rubber was unsafe for this track.

Michelin was rebuffed when it asked the FIA, the series governing body, to ease its rule forbidding teams to change tires after qualifying. The FIA also refused to consider installing a chicane.

So Michelin advised its teams not to compete after a lengthy morning meeting between nine team bosses (Ferrari did not attend), F-1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA. At one point, all 20 drivers were summoned to the meeting.

The nine teams even agreed to race for no points, as long as the obstacle was added to the course.

All of them said Ferrari would not agree to any of the proposals. Todt denied that Ferrari held up any deals, and said any decisions were left to the FIA. However, he said Ferrari would have protested the use of a chicane.

The teams worked up until the final moments for a resolution, even lining up on the grid and taking the warm-up lap. Then they pulled off, climbing out of their cars at the same time the remaining six drivers started the race.

The crowd was stunned, with fans pointing and gawking as they tried to figure out what was going on. Some booed. Others threw water bottles on the track in disgust.

"If I was a fan out there I would do the same," said driver Jacques Villeneuve, a former Indianapolis 500 winner.

After just 10 laps, many spectators began heading for the exits.

Indy officials said they had not yet discussed offering refunds, and track boss Tony George issued a statement urging fans to direct their frustration to Michelin, the FIA and F-1's management.

This event already draws just a fraction of what other races here do. Less than 100,000 come to this race, compared to a crowd in excess of 300,000 for the Indianapolis 500. Sunday's debacle will do nothing to improve that.

"Quite frankly, the fans got cheated," Ecclestone said.

All seven teams that pulled out of the race signed a single statement apologizing for the debacle.

"We are totally aware that the USA is an important market for Formula One and there is an obligation for Formula One to promote itself in a positive and professional manner," it said.

Among those refusing to race were world championship points leader Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, who trails him in the standings by 22 points.

Alonso is F-1's biggest threat this season to end Schumacher's five-year reign as world champion. But when he and the other contenders pulled out of the event, it opened the door for seven-time world champion Schumacher to climb back.

Schumacher entered the event 35 points behind Alonso, but cut the deficit to 25 with the victory -- well within striking distance with 10 events left this season.

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