Yesterday, in Indianapolis, was run the U.S. Grand Prix, a Formula 1 race run on a modified road course inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of the Indy 500. In case you haven't heard, only six cars ran the race, down from the usual 20.

It all had to do with what tires they used. The six cars running were from the three teams that run on Bridgestone tires. The other seven teams use Michelin.

Okay, so why is that a problem? No, its not because Bridgestone has a competitive advantage; that is to say that the Bridgestone drivers were not running away with the championship. In a way, you could say that the Michelin drivers were, but with a 14:6 advantage, the statistics are in Michelin's favor.

The concern was tire safety. The Michelin tires were showing signs of breaking apart at a certain point on the track. The modified road course uses part of the oval course, a banked corner and the front straight. It's the only track in Formula 1 that uses banking. This banking causes extra forces to be applied to the left rear tire (I think...it could be right rear). In any case, these extra forces were causing the Michelin tires to fall apart.

Should someone's tire fall apart during the race, the results could have been catastrophic. A car could have gone slamming into the wall or another car, killing the driver(s). Or worse, a car or debris from a car could have been hurled into the fans, severly injuring or killing some of them and the driver(s). Michelin informed their teams that their tires weren't safe.

Michelin and the teams tried to work with the FIA in order to put on the show:
"Maybe this is a bad batch of rubber, let us bring in new tires."
"No!"
"Put in a chicane at that corner...slow the drivers down, reduce what the tires have to bear."
"No!"
So, Michelin suggested that the teams don't race out of safety concerns. And that's what they did.

Now, I'll agree that they way they handled it wasn't the best. After a warm up lap, the Michelin fitted cars pulled into the pits and parked in the garage, leaving fans wondering what was going on. But, in the political world that is Formula 1 (it's bad, really bad), a statement like this had to be made. What one does to make a statement to the political rules-enforcing body also makes a horrible statement to the fans. They were cheated. We were cheated.

But that doesn't mean I think it was the wrong move to make. Sure, racing is dangerous, and people can die under normal circumstances, even fans. But the number one concern in racing is safety—of everyone at the track. So, whatever can be done to prevent accidents is done. Whatever can be done to prevent debris from flying into the stands is done. Racing should be fun and as safe as possible. So, when your tire provider says their tires aren't safe, would you risk your life racing on them? I wouldn't!

What really incensed me was a comment by Michael Schumacher, a driver for the Ferrari team (coincidentally, they run on Bridgestone tires...he "won" the "race" yesterday). 9 of the 10 teams voted to have a chicane put in; that they would refuse to race unless that chicane was there. Of course, we wouldn't expect the FIA to listen to them, they're just the PEOPLE WHO COMPETE IN YOUR SPORT!! Anyway, guess which team voted not to have the chicane. That's right—Ferrari. So, when interviewed after his "win," this is what he had to say:

"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."

Um, did your team just not vote to have a chicane put in? You and the other two teams left could have pulled into the garage, too. I've never like Ferrari and Michael Schumacher...now, I don't like them all the more.

And another thing. Whatever happened to Jordan and Minardi not racing because the chicane wasn't put in? I guess with the competition out of the way, they couldn't resist the championship points. Good principles guys.

So, to all the Formula 1 fans out there complaining because they didn't get their money's worth, shut up. What if those 14 cars had wrecked, killing people? What then? Would you call that your money's worth? What if you had been one of those killed?

I complain, not as a fan of a team that pulled out—McLaren—but as a fan of the sport. If a safety concern is raised, it should be addressed. It wasn't. The political governing body of the sport dropped the ball. Those who raised the concerns and brought up solutions were told to go away; they were basically told to quit whining. Shame on them.