Twenty years ago, Formula 1 experienced one of the most disastrous Grand Prix in history. What was supposed to be an exciting weekend of racing in the United States revealed a problem with the competition’s logistics, which ended up exposing internal problems in the sport and almost led to the cancellation of the race. F1’s reputation in the country was on the line. Has that reputation been restored in the past few years? What can we expect from the future of the sport in the U.S? Find out this and more information about it.
Tire failures and backstage revolt
On June 19, 2005, a little over 20 years ago, the sixth United States Grand Prix took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, one of the biggest stages of the sport in the country, and perhaps this was the fact that makes the failure of this GP so impactful to this day. To understand how this event affected the credibility in the U.S for so many years, it is first necessary to point out that it all started before the engines even roared.
This year, two major tire manufacturers were behind the F1 race, Bridgestone and Michelin, who divided up which teams they would supply their materials to. Bridgestone was left with Ferrari, Minardi, and Jordan, while Michelin was left with all the other teams on the grid. It turned out that changes to the Indianapolis racetrack in the days leading up to the race caught the companies off guard: the racetrack was very hard and compromised the durability of the tires.
The teams that were supplied by Michelin ended up being more harmed by the new tires – that showed weakness in their material even in pre-race training -, and Bridgestone managed to have a better performance because of a tip from its American Brand, Firestone, which supplied tires to IndyCar – which competed in the same place where the F1 event was going to happen. In a year in which changing tires during a race was prohibited, the performance of the teams supplied by the French company was something that caused concern.
The problem had no solution
Although Michelin has noticed a pattern with the problems that occurred with its tires during practice, and tried to overcome the problem, the company had no other tire options that could save them. The French company informed its teams about the problem, and general dissatisfaction took hold in American GP.
The company tried to come up with solutions to extend the life of its tires as much as possible, such as installing temporary chicanes on the racetrack to reduce the speed of the cars and even changing tires along the route. However, these actions were blocked by the FIA, as these changes would put the teams supplied by Michelin at a disadvantage compared to Bridgestone.
Political, logistical, and strategic disputes took place behind the scenes between the FIA, Michelin, and Bridgestone. The competition, despite the teams participating, was a catastrophe due to the problems with the tires throughout the GP, and most teams withdrew from the competition for fear of the risk of accidents. The sport in the U.S. was compromised after this, and at the end of 2007, the country stopped being part of the circuit.
Remembering the past to get it right in the present
The GP disaster was so significant that it is still treated as a stain on the image of F1 in the U.S. Nowadays, F1 is doing well in the country, but what happened in 2005 makes us reaffirm that F1 needs to take a closer look at its organization if it wants to maintain its relevance in the North American Motorsport industry.
