2005 United States Grand Prix
The 2005 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on June 19, 2005 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race was notable for the fact that only six cars competed; all fourteen Michelin runners retired after the installation lap due to a safety issue with their tyres, leaving only the Bridgestone teams Ferrari, Minardi and Jordan to start.
Following several tyre failures at Turn 13 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, most spectacularly on Ralf Schumacher's Toyota during Friday practice, Michelin advised its six customer teams that they could not safely race. The FIA refused to allow new tyres to be flown in or a chicane to be installed, and the teams, unable to come to a compromise, did not participate in the race on safety grounds.
Of the six competitors, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher was the eventual winner. The result significantly boosted his championship standing, placing him third overall – no driver above him in the table took part in the race.
Pre-race controversy
Race report
To the fans in attendance, the start of the race appeared perfectly normal, as all cars lined up on the grid per FIA race procedure. Behind the scenes, last minute meetings were taking place, even since the early morning when it was finally confirmed that the Michelins could not be guaranteed for the race. As Charlie Whiting signalled the green light to start the formation lap, a full grid of twenty cars took off, presumably for one last attempt to warm their tyres before the race. Winding through the first twelve turns, all looked to be standard. At the banked turn thirteen, the entrance to pit lane, and the turn that is the centre of the controversy, all teams that ran Michelin tyres returned their pits, leaving just six cars to take the grid for the start of the race, from Ferrari, Jordan, and Minardi. The reasons for teams to come to the grid and pull out after the formation lap into pits infuriated the fans as they had little idea what was happening. The race quickly turned into what SPEED commentator Bob Varsha called "a Bridgestone test session", with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in front, Jordan's Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan in a distant third and fourth, and Minardi's Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher bringing up the rear.
The race was a story of pit strategy, as the only passing outside of pit stops was to overtake lapped traffic. Albers was the only car to run a three pit stop race, as all other cars chose to stop only twice. The only lead changes came on lap 26, as Schumacher's 32 second stop gave Barrichello the lead, and on lap 51, as Schumacher turned in the quickest pit stop at 23.615 seconds, giving him enough time to exit pit lane at the same time as Barrichello, with the result of forcing Barrichello into the grass of turn one. After this incident, which was not investigated by race officials, both Ferrari drivers were reminded over their radios not to crash out of the race, and they both settled into a slower pace, comfortably ahead of the rest of the field. At the podium ceremony, at which none of the scheduled presenters were present, all Ferrari team members quietly accepted their awards, and quickly exited, leaving the rookie Monteiro to celebrate his first podium finish alone.
Aftermath
This "race" had implications in the championship points standings, as Michael Schumacher moved from fifth to third, Rubens Barrichello moved from sixth to fourth, Ferrari moved from fifth to second in the Constructors Championship, and both Jordan and Minardi scored points, leaving BAR-Honda as the only team yet to score a single point.
Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has since said that nine teams – all but Ferrari – agreed not to race, and had Jordan not reversed its decision at the last minute, Minardi would also have withdrawn from the race in boycott. [1] Many commentators labelled the race a "farce" and questioned whether a United States Grand Prix will be held in Indianapolis again or at all.
Bernie Ecclestone, in answer to a question by ITV's Martin Brundle, described the future of Formula One in the United States and the future of Michelin in the sport as "not good".
Sam Posey, a former SPEED Channel commentator who competed in the 1972 United States Grand Prix, the only Grand Prix he ever competed in, gave his thoughts on the race at the end of SPEED's telecast. He ended his essay by saying, "U.S. GP 2005 — a dark, dark day for a great sport." Before he said that, however, he had a very philosophical way of describing Grand Prix racing:
- "Grand Prix racing at its best is a modern marvel of excesses, immense cost, furious competition, amazing technology, and sudden changes of fortune, all conducted at maximum intensity. At its worst, which is what we have seen today, it is an overly political monster, driven by selfishness and greed."
The following day, the FIA published a justification of its refusal to permit a change in tyres or the installation of a chicane, and summoned the seven Michelin teams before the World Motorsport Council to explain their failure to participate, by which they had presumably violated the terms of the Concorde Agreement.
Classification
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Notes
- Pole position: Jarno Trulli 1:10.625
- Fastest lap: Michael Schumacher 1:11.497
- All six starters finished the race, making this only the second time in Formula One history where every car that started a race went on to complete it.
- Michael Schumacher's first victory of 2005 ended the second-longest non-winning streak of his career.
- Jordan driver Tiago Monteiro's third place earned him the first podium finish of his career, and the first podium for a Portuguese driver.
External links
- Correspondence from June 1 and 2 between Michelin sporting director Pierre Dupasquier and FIA president Max Mosley regarding tyre safety (pdf)
- Part 1 and part 2 of the June 18–19 correspondence between Dupasquier, Michelin's Nick Shorrock, and FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting