He took it back

[Kate Shaw]

I guess Max realized that people were on to his plan to wait and see how many points Michael needed to "win" the Championship...   

F1's Michelin teams to be cleared of wrongdoing
WebPosted Thu, 14 Jul 2005 13:13:10 EDT
CBC Sports

The governing body of auto racing's Formula One circuit said Thursday it will recommend guilty verdicts be dropped against the teams that boycotted last month's United States Grand Prix.


FROM JUNE 19, 2005: Formula One fiasco in Indianapolis

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) found all of F1's teams that use Michelin tires guilty of failing to provide suitable tires and wrongfully refusing to allow their cars to participate in the June 19 race at Indianapolis.

Seven of F1's 10 teams - BMW-Williams, Mercedes-McLaren, BAR-Honda, Toyota, Sauber, Red Bull and Renault ? pulled out of the race after tire manufacturer Michelin said its tires were unsafe for the Indianapolis circuit.

The FIA decided to put off handing out any sanctions against the teams until Sept. 14.

However, the FIA's senate reversed its decision on Thursday, saying that the teams were right to follow Michelin's instructions to withdraw and that they were "contractually bound" to do so.

The Senate has called for a vote of the World Motor Sport Council within the next few days in order to ratify its recommendation.

Boos rang out from the stands at the Brickyard track in Indianapolis as the Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi cars, the ones that use Bridgestone tires, began the race while the seven Michelin teams headed to the pits.

Many fans threw debris on the track in disgust and headed to the exits after 10 laps.

It was a major public relations disaster for F1, which has been trying to capitalize on the surge in the popularity of auto racing in the United States.

Racing against only five cars, defending champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari had no trouble winning his first F1 event of the season in Indianapolis.

[Ferrari Spider]

you letting your dislike getting in the way of the truth again Kate

[smokie]

Moseley should go.


The man is a buffoon.

[Fax]

I've got mixed feelings about Max.  On one hand, what he, Alan Rees, Robin Herd and Graham Coaker were able to pull off with March was really special.  And on a personal note, Max introduced F1 to a young Swedish kid named Peterson.  However I think his tenure as FIA president has been pretty lackluster.  Where the man he succeded, Jean Marie Balestre, left no one in doubt who was in charge, Max has tended to wallow from issue to issue, more often than not seeming a puppet of the Pigmy.  Max is a good man though.  At Zandvort in 1973 when they brought the burned out remains of Roger Williamson's Tom Wheatcroft March back the pits (with Roger still in it) Max was one of those who pulled Roger out of the car and made sure things were looked after.  Some things are better now and Max has had alot to do with that.
Fax

[downshift62]

Max has a solution for everything that is not a problem, yet nothing to fix the issues that threaten to split F1. 

Issue:  You have several teams that are threatening to break away and rip the racing world apart.

Solution:  Lets go to one tire for qualifying and race.  That should save some cost.   

WTF???

Max = Clueless

[Fax]

Downshift,
Break away and rip the sport apart?  Nah, not really.  In the early eighties at the height of the FOCA vs FISA wars there were threats of a "break away series" every year for about five years. Nothing new here.  The sport would hardly be ripped apart, racing as a whole has never been more popular. There are several racing series that are in dire need of a shake-up of biblical proportions, F1 being one of them.  But the sport will survive just fine.  Maybe nows the time to cull some cancers in the sport
Fax

[downshift62]

Downshift,
Break away and rip the sport apart?  Nah, not really.  In the early eighties at the height of the FOCA vs FISA wars there were threats of a "break away series" every year for about five years. Nothing new here.  The sport would hardly be ripped apart, racing as a whole has never been more popular. There are several racing series that are in dire need of a shake-up of biblical proportions, F1 being one of them.  But the sport will survive just fine.  Maybe nows the time to cull some cancers in the sport
Fax

I said the same thing in 1996.

I guess it's just been hard being an open-wheel fan in America the past 10 years.  I can't stand to see something like that potentially happen again. 


FTG!   

[nice_person1]

Solution:  Lets go to one tire for qualifying and race.  That should save some cost.   

WTF???

Max = Clueless

Personally I think that has been a great rule.  It has finally brought in some variety to the races and has forced the drivers to learn how to preserve a car over a GP a bit.  Three sprints with clean tyres and fuel within a GP was boring.  However, if they allowed one tyre change per race, they should ban refuelling.  Everyone fuels up for qualifying and that tank has to last the single lap plus the race.

We could see some teams running dry close to the end, and some others really rooting their tyres by charging too hard too soon on full tanks, then having to make a tyre stop, while someone who is a little more skillfull on full tanks will benefit.  Proper clutch starts would be a move in the right direction too, even if the push for automatic boxes seems to be here to stay.

Using stored energy for power boosts would be interesting.  If you limited each car to a certain amount of energy per race, that "boost" will have to be used sparingly.  Teams will have to build very efficient systems (a true benefit to road cars and the environment) but drivers won't be penalised in a fuel way by using it.  Might even encourage overtaking !

You can have all the electronics you like, but the fact is when you start to run a bit low on fuel you need to be careful, and with your nemisis closing in things will be good for the fans.

Think of all the exciting finishes where someone has been closed down, only to make a mistake or fall foul of a car breakage.  Portugal 1987 where Prost chased Berger who finally cracked and spun on worn out tyres is a perfect example.  It's exciting. 

[Kate Shaw]

Actually I think someone finally made Max see that the sooner this subject was dropped, the better.  American fans have short memories.  (At least the NHL hopes they do.)

[Fax]

The NHL...whew, this is going to be interesting.  I think in the cities where there are old established teams (Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, New York, Edmonton, etc) and long-time hardcore fans, the sport will rebound.  However in some of the expansion cities (Tampa Bay, Columbus, Nasville, etc) I can see the teams really struggling to stay afloat.  Its going to be a long hard road to recovery.
Fax

[Fax]

Downshift,
Agreed, 1996 was f**ked up.  The infuriating thing was that was champ car racing was perfectly healthy (strong grids, top driver & team line-ups, healthy attendance figures and TV ratings) but Tony George just simply decided to f**k everything up.  Like the old saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" well he fixed it alright...
Fax

[Andy Zarse]

Fax, you could say similar things about Bernie and his early history in the sport. It has no bearing on the current position.

"Mad Max" Moseley was once, believe it or not, a reasonable human being. Yes he did start MARCH Racing, along with his posh monied pals, and it must have taken a bit of drive to get things going. And boy how I cheered when he ousted the awful dictator JM Balestre as Pres of the FIA.

But he's been in the job way too long, something he came close to acknowledging himself last year when he stepped down as President for a few days. Then he mysteriously stepped back up again.  Never could work that one out. He should go, he's lost the confidence of the teams, the fans and the sport in general. And now looks like the Senate are overturning his decisions too. Bye-bye.

[Fax]

Andy,
Agree with almost everything you said.  However in a weird sort of way I kinda miss good old JMB
What a nut!  Personal highlights of his tenure as FIA president were the Kyalami drivers strike and the time Nelson Piquet poured water down his pockets during a pre-race drivers briefing.  And who can forget his wars with Senna?
Fax

[downshift62]

A problem is, the #1 name on the list to replace Max is...

:drumroll:

Jean Todt   

[Kate Shaw]

I suppose it would be really vulgar to say anything about replacing a toad with a frog.....