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Here are some of Peter Windsor's comments from his appearance on WindTunnel last night. WT is a racing program on Speed TV.
Taken from a pay site I am registered on.
Quote:
06/20/05
Wind Tunnel quotes F1 USGP Below are select quotes from SPEED Channel Formula One analyst Peter Windsor from a Sunday night appearance on 'Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.' Windsor comments on the Formula One debacle, where Michelin teams refused to race at the USGP, citing safety issues for its drivers, leaving the lone F1 event in the U.S. with a six-car field.
Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain airs Sunday nights at 9 on SPEED Channel.
WINDSOR: "I think this business about the Michelin tires being unsafe to race has been exaggerated by the teams and, indeed, by Michelin, because as far as I understand it, they were only considered to be unsafe, by Michelin, on one very specific corner. And talking to a lot of the drivers, there were ways of getting around that corner, reducing the amount of load that was going through it - obviously we are talking about Turn 13, the vertical load. So, I think first of all, we need to be very careful about "the tires were unsafe." I think they were unsafe, but unsafe when used in a specific way. Beyond that, I am as shattered as anyone else. I love Formula One. I've been involved for 30 years and to see that happen on the warm-up lap, the formation lap, all those cars coming in like that, I think it was an absolute disgrace. To be honest, our obligation in this sport, or any sport is to the fans and for that to happen is just appalling."
"I think the Michelin was naïve in thinking that there would be a solution that falls outside the framework of the Formula One regulations ... because they suggested a chicane that makes cars go slower through Turn 13, but that was never going to happen in a million years. The FIA, the governing body of the sport - this is the governing body that disqualifies cars for having a brake duct half a millimeter too large - they are never going to put in a chicane in on race morning, around which the cars are not allowed to practice or do anything at all ... equally, there was talk about using another batch of tires, but that was never going to happen either."
"Tell me where the difference is in what happened today and what might happen at any Grand Prix where there is a sudden downpour and one tire company, on intermediate tires, with no grip at all, everybody spins off on the straight and there is only five cars left in the race. That's happened before and everyone thinks 'Wow, what a great race.' They should have been out there racing and if there are problems, you drive around the problems as best you can. Racers are racers."
"It's the teams, these massively paid teams and drivers, who have a responsibility to the fans ... not one of those Michelin team guys said 'We made a horrendous mistake today and we take full responsibility. All they did was blame the FIA, blame Bernie, blame Ferrari, blame Bridgestone, blame everyone else, but they never actually blamed themselves. Do you know how many teams from Michelin actually did the pre-USA tire test to select the correct tire for Indianapolis? ... Two - Felipe Massa and Anthony Davidson - everyone else was at Silverstone."
"One of the watersheds of today was that Bernie Ecclestone stared people in the eye, literally eyeball to eyeball before the race, and said you are going to get in that car and race - not to the drivers, but to the team owners ... and they stared him back. At the end of the day, in this particular situation, the eyeballing didn't work for Bernie. It's the first time I can remember it not working for him and there will be repercussions."
"F1 is about people getting out there and going motor racing. We race in the rain. We race in the wind. We race in the hail. We race in the hot weather. And we have tire failures and lots of other terrible things, but that's what Formula One is all about, for good and for bad."
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