Cover up Michelins! after Ralf Schumacher crashed 2005 USGP

This video is the aftermath of what happened following Ralf Schumacher's crash at the 2005 USGP. This happened during Friday practice and after Ralf crashed into the wall when his left rear Michelin tire failed.

At the time, I found it amusing how the Michelin technicians were running around to cover up the failed tires on both Ralf Schumacher's and Ricardo Zonta's cars.

I guess the joke was on us, as failures of Michelin tires at the 2005 USGP resulted in all but 3 teams withdrawing from the race. Only 6 cars took the green flag and it was sad day for F1.

Check out the video which led to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km30TS8QC1g

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Ralf
• Schumacher
• kick
• crash
• Toyota
• F1
• Formula
• One
• 2005
• USGP
• US
• Grand
• Prix
• michelin
• after
• cover

[eph3911]

It has been typical for the tire manufactures to do this, although they might not bother in 2008 since there's no "tire war" in F1 this year.

It seemed humorous to me at the time to see the Michelin engineers scrambling around like they did, but it sure was NOT funny on Sunday to only see six cars take the track for the race!

[FMichael1970]

Of course the Michelin engineers/techs are gonna cover-up the tire carcasses/remains...They spend millions, & don't want Bridgestone having a good view of what may be the structural make-up of their racing tire.

[SurfieInACT]

I love the USA, and it's inhabitants, but I agree that there should'nt be a US GP. It's not an US sport. Nothing against anyone. I just think it belongs in Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. Bring back the South African GP.

[FMichael1970]

@luke140495 It was the abrasiveness of the asphalt (oval being resurfaced) more so than the tires.

[FMichael1970]

@Chris45215 The USGP drew over 200,000 spectators in it's inagual race in 2000...The attendance did however drop the following years, but was still a respectable 110,000 to 120,000 from 2001 - 2007 (being consistently 1 of the largest crowds in attendance in any given year)...Granted it'll never top NASCAR, but saying F1 doesn't belong in the United States is just silly; SurfielnACT should attend the race in Austin - he'll see the support F1 gets on this side of the pond.

[FMichael1970]

@FMichael1970 To continue.....Michelin found the incident quite embarassing, and rightfully so...Michelin then did the right thing by providing those of us in attendance free tickets to the 2006 USGP, and threw in an additional 2 tickets - free of charge (6 free tickets in all); now that's customer service!

[FMichael1970]

@alexandertrefz Actually it was the resurfacing of the oval track early spring of 2005 that cause excessive wear on the Michelins...When testing in early May the Firestone shod IRL racers found out that the new asphalt was very abrasive, and the tires wore down fast...With Bridgestone being the parent company of Firestone - they were well informed of the technical data gathered...It's why Bridgestone had no trouble that weekend...Information proved to be the key.

[alexandertrefz]

@FMichael1970 right. Their millions that caused the tyres to not work, awesome technology…

[boivsam]

It is very likely it was to preserve the whole tyre pieces to investigate afterwards transport...

[4gregman]

@SurfieInACT i have to agree i live in the north west of the us and do not plan to travel to the southwest to see them next year. but i have with indycar who should stay in the americas if you ask me

[stefann1989v2]

Cover-ups in F1 are NOT made without a reason.

[Chris45215]

@SurfieInACT It belongs in Europe, South America, Canada, Australia, the Mid-East, throughout eastern Asia, everywhere in Europe, will soon be in Russia... and it belongs in the US too. F1 does not belong anywhere in particular, and that is one of the great things about it, in my opinion. I respect your opinion and agree that the US has avoided it, and we have NASCAR and Indycar. On the other hand, us Americans could benefit a bit from participating in an international sport, and F1 will too.