2005 United States Grand Prix

During the afternoon's practice session on Friday, June 17, 2005, Ralf Schumacher, driving for Toyota, crashed badly in Turn 13 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, apparently as a result of a left-rear tyre failure. He was unable to continue racing, and was replaced by the team's test driver, Ricardo Zonta, for the rest of the weekend. Schumacher had crashed in the same spot as a result of a tyre failure the previous year, while driving for the Williams team.[7] Turn 13 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course is a high-speed banked turn, unique in Formula One racing, which causes a greater than usual tyre loading.[8] On June 18, Michelin reported that it did not understand why the tyres it had provided for its seven customer teams – BAR, McLaren, Red Bull, Renault, Sauber, Toyota, and Williams – had failed in this turn, and announced its intention to fly in tyres of a different specification from its Clermont-Ferrand headquarters.[9] Unfortunately, the replacement tyres flown in, which were of the type used in the Spanish Grand Prix earlier that year, turned out to have the same problem when tested.[10][11]

In a letter to FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting dated Saturday, June 18, Michelin representatives Pierre Dupasquier and Nick Shorrock revealed that they did not know the cause of the Toyota tyre failures, and unless the cars could be slowed down in Turn 13, they could not guarantee the tyres' safety for more than 10 laps.[11] Whiting replied on Sunday, June 19, expressing his surprise that Michelin had not brought suitable tyres, suggesting that the teams should limit their drivers to the maximum safe speed specified by Michelin in Turn 13. He also addressed several solutions which had been proposed by the teams, insisting that use of the new specification tyres flown in overnight would be "a breach of the rules to be considered by the stewards", and the placement of a chicane in the turn was "out of the question" – the race would not be sanctioned by the FIA (making it a non-championship race) if the track layout was changed. He deemed the Michelin teams' proposals to be "grossly unfair" to the Bridgestone teams.[12]

Tyre issues caused the race to be run with only six competitors.

In a second letter, also dated June 18, Dupasquier and Shorrock confirmed that they would not permit their teams to race on the Michelin tyres used during qualification without changes to the circuit, and reiterated their request to slow down Turn 13. Whiting's brief reply maintained that no such change would be permitted, and gave the teams the choice of limiting speeds through Turn 13, using tyres of a different specification to those used in qualifying, subject to a penalty, or changing tyres repeatedly, which would have been permitted if a driver's safety were at issue.[13]

Paul Stoddart, then owner of Minardi, a team using Bridgestone tyres, published an account on Wednesday, June 22, of the events leading up to the race. Stoddart recorded a meeting around 10:00am on the day of the race, to which Speedway president Tony George, two senior Michelin representatives, Bernie Ecclestone (president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration), the team principals, and the teams' Michelin technical representatives were summoned. All invited were present except Jean Todt, Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari.[10]

Alonso qualifying for the race

By Stoddart's account, the meeting proceeded as follows: The Michelin representatives stated their position that the tyres provided to the teams could not safely complete the race distance, and requested that the Bridgestone teams, represented by Stoddart and Jordan's Colin Kolles, permit the installation of a chicane in Turn 13. Those present discussed and agreed to reject the FIA's solution of speed-limiting the Michelin cars in the turn because of the potential for accidents. They likewise dismissed the possibility of making pit stops every ten laps, resolved that a chicane was the best solution, and instructed several technical representatives to prepare plans for its installation. Bernie Ecclestone volunteered to consult Todt, who had not come to the meeting, and the president of the FIA, Max Mosley, who was not present at the race, and reconvene the meeting when he had responses.[10]

Ecclestone returned at about 10:55 to inform the group that Todt had refused to agree to the chicane, maintaining that it was an FIA and a Michelin problem and not his. By the time Stoddart's account of the meeting was published, Todt had already denied that he had ever been consulted, but stated that, if asked, he would not have agreed to the chicane.[14] Furthermore, Ecclestone reported that Mosley had "stated that if any attempts were made to alter the circuit, he would cancel the Grand Prix forthwith".[10]

As Ralf Schumacher was injured, Ricardo Zonta qualified the Toyota instead of him.

The group, according to Stoddart, continued to propose alternative solutions, including "a non-championship race, or a race in which the Michelin teams could not score points, and even a race whereby only the Michelin teams used the new chicane", but eventually agreed that the best option was to install the chicane and run a non-championship race, without Ferrari if necessary.[15] To ignore the FIA's instructions and carry on the race would have resulted in the FIA's withdrawing its staff, so the group appointed delegates to fill the various offices, including a race director to replace Charlie Whiting and a safety car driver to replace Bernd Mayländer. The team principals were instructed to convey to their teams and drivers that, in the absence of FIA scrutineers and equipment, the technical rules could not be enforced, and that they were to conduct themselves honourably and in the interest of an entertaining race.[15]

They proceeded to summon the twenty drivers and present their plan. Of the drivers' opinions, Stoddart writes: "While I cannot testify that each and every driver agreed with what we were proposing, what I can say with certainty is that no driver disagreed." The Ferrari drivers expressed no opinion in the matter, leaving the decision to Todt, who was not present. The nine team principals who were present then resolved that, unless they and the FIA could come to a decision in the best interest of the sport, they would not participate in the race.[15]

Turn 13, the centre of the controversy

After a short break, the group gathered again in Ecclestone's office to find Renault team principal Flavio Briatore on the phone with Max Mosley. Mosley had apparently rejected all of their proposals, and it was stated that "Mosley had informed Mr. Martin, the FIA's most senior representative in the USA, that if any kind of non-championship race was run, or any alteration made to the circuit, the US Grand Prix, and indeed, all FIA-regulated motorsport in the US, would be under threat".[10] On the same day that Stoddart's version of events was published, the FIA issued a statement denying that Mosley had made the reported threat, or that any such conversation had taken place.[16]

Having exhausted their options, the Michelin team principals, Stoddart, and Bernie Ecclestone – but not Jordan's Colin Kolles – discussed whether their cars should proceed to the grid, and decided that they should participate in the formation lap but that they could not race.[10] Stoddart asked Kolles if he would be entering his cars and was informed that Jordan would indeed be racing, despite having previously agreed not to. Stoddart was then approached by a Bridgestone representative and told that Bridgestone wanted him to race; he has also stated that given his "current relationship with Mr Mosley, [he] felt certain heavy sanctions would follow if [he] did not [race]." Stoddart too decided to enter his drivers, but reported that he would retire them if the Jordans did not finish the race.[15]

The following day, the FIA published a justification of its refusal to permit a change in tyres or the installation of a chicane. It contended that Formula One operated under "clear rules" which could not be altered when a team "brings the wrong equipment to a race." It further claimed that a chicane would have resulted in the race being run on a track that had been significantly altered "without following any of the modern safety procedures," which would have exposed FIA to significant legal liability in the event of an accident.[37]

The FIA also summoned the seven Michelin-shod teams before the World Motorsport Council at their headquarters in France, for a hearing on June 29, to explain their failure to participate, by which they had presumably violated the terms of the Concorde Agreement.[38] It later published copies of the letters sent to each team "in the interests of transparency".[39][40] They were charged with violating article 151c of the International Sporting Code, which refers to acts prejudicial to the interests of competition or motorsport generally.[41] Specifically, it was charged that they had:

• Failed to ensure availability of suitable tyres for the race.
• Wrongfully refused to allow cars to start the race.
• Wrongfully refused to allow cars to race subject to speed restrictions at one corner, which was safe for such tyres available.
• Combined with other teams to make a demonstration damaging to the image of Formula 1 by pulling into the pits immediately before the start of the race.
• Failed to notify the stewards of intention not to race.

On June 22 the FIA produced a press release from Max Mosley, in the form of a question-and-answer session, in an effort to clarify the FIA's stand on the controversy.[42] In it Mosley drew an analogy to a hypothetical situation where the engines from one manufacturer had oil starvation problems due to high lateral loading in one corner, and pointed out that those cars would simply have been forced to run slower as a result. He reiterated that the reason for not installing the chicane was purely that it had never been tested and was thereby deemed unsafe. He pointed out that the alternatives that the FIA suggested were feasible, and wondered why the teams did not use the pitlane as an alternative, especially when, with only six Bridgestone cars, the Michelin teams could still compete for the points scoring seventh and eighth places.[43]

On June 29 the FIA World Motorsport Council found the teams guilty of not being in possession of suitable tyres, "but with strong mitigating circumstances," and failure to allow their cars to start the race. The teams were found not guilty of the other three counts. The punishment, however, was not decided, and was not to have been announced until September 14.[44]

On July 22, the FIA World Motorsport Council voted to overturn its previous decision, and exonerated the Michelin teams of all charges. The decision was due to "evidence previously submitted to the FIA Senate."[45] According to BBC Sport, Dennis and Red Bull principal Christian Horner told Mosley and the FIA Senate that Indiana state law left the Michelin teams no option but to pull out of the race. They contended that had they competed, they potentially faced criminal charges for knowingly putting others at risk even if no accident actually occurred.[2]

On June 28, Michelin announced that it would offer compensation to all race fans who had purchased tickets for the Grand Prix.[46] The company planned to issue refund cheques through the Speedway ticket office for the price of all tickets for the race by the end of September. Additionally, Michelin purchased 20,000 tickets for the 2006 United States Grand Prix to be distributed to spectators who attended the 2005 race.[47]

In addition to the refunded tickets, there was some discussion about holding a second, non-championship race at Indianapolis. On July 2, at the 2005 French Grand Prix, McLaren team principal Ron Dennis suggested that an additional race could be held at the American circuit after the last official race of the season, in Shanghai. The teams had, apparently, already discussed the idea with Bernie Ecclestone. But the next day Tony George dismissed the possibility: "There will be no race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this fall."[48]

At the 2005 Champ Car World Series Grand Prix of Cleveland, held one week after the US Grand Prix, free admission was granted to all bearers of ticket stubs of the US Grand Prix.[49]