2005 United States Grand Prix

The 2005 United States Grand Prix (officially the 2005 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on June 19, 2005, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was the ninth race of the 2005 Formula One World Championship. The event is one of the most infamous races in motorsport history. Out of the 20 cars that entered the race, only the six cars from the teams using Bridgestone tyres (Ferrari, Jordan, and Minardi) competed. The remaining fourteen entrants, all using Michelin tyres, completed the formation lap, but retired to the pit lane before the race started.

Following two tyre failures before the race, which caused major accidents for Ralf Schumacher's Toyota during Friday practice and then for his Toyota stand-in Ricardo Zonta, Michelin advised its seven customer teams that without a reduction in speed in Turn 13, the tyres provided for the race would only be safe for 10 laps. Michelin had been providing working tyres for the race since 2001. The situation was worsened by the 2005 Formula One rules, which forbade tyre changes during the race, and a repave of the oval portion of the course after the 2004 Brickyard 400.

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the sport's governing body, refused a compromise proposal from Michelin to allow a chicane to be installed, maintaining that such rule changes would be grossly unfair to the Bridgestone-shod teams, who had come prepared with properly working tyres, and that a last-minute change to the track layout would be dangerous in case of crashes. The Michelin teams, unable to come to a compromise with the FIA, decided not to participate. It was later stated that the Michelin-shod teams could have potentially exposed themselves to criminal liability under Indiana state law had they competed. it understood better the loads the Formula One tyres would be under. Thus, Bridgestone was able to provide a safe tyre.

Of the six competitors, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher was the eventual winner, with his teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing second and Jordan driver Tiago Monteiro finishing third, which would be his only podium in Formula One as well as the last podium for Jordan. The result moved Schumacher to third in the World Drivers' Championship—no driver above him took part in the race. The final race result was the lowest number of finishing entries ever seen in a major open-wheel motorsports event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since the institution of the 500-Mile Race (surpassing the previous record low of seven finishers in 1966, a race marred by a major first lap accident that eliminated a full third of the starting field). The situation created enormous negative publicity for the sport of Formula One, especially in the United States, a market in which Formula One had struggled to establish itself over the preceding twenty years.

Background

The race was the 9th of the 19 rounds in the 2005 Formula One World Championship, located in Speedway, Indiana. Renault with 76 points led McLaren in second on 63 points at the top of the World Constructors' Championships. Williams and Toyota were tied for third with 47 points each and Ferrari were fifth with 45 points. During the session, each competitor recorded one timed lap with the running sequence set by the results of the previous Grand Prix reversed. All non-classified drivers were sorted according to how many laps they completed, with the one with the highest number going out last. Trulli achieved pole position by posting the fastest lap time, 1 minute, 10.625 seconds. Trulli, driving for Toyota, was the team's first driver to claim a pole position for a Formula One race. The second-place qualifier was Räikkönen, followed by Jenson Button, Giancarlo Fisichella, and Michael Schumacher. Alonso qualified in sixth, while the rest of the top ten consisted of Rubens Barrichello, Takuma Sato, Mark Webber, and Felipe Massa.

Pre-race controversy

right|thumb|Ralf Schumacher at an autograph session before the practice session where he crashed in Turn 13.

Michelin tyre failures

During the afternoon's practice session on June 17, 2005, Ralf Schumacher, driving for Toyota, crashed badly in Turn 13 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, as a result of a left-rear tyre failure. He was unable to continue racing, and was replaced for the rest of the weekend by the team's test driver, Ricardo Zonta, who himself suffered a left-rear tyre failure during practice as well. Schumacher had crashed in the same spot as a result of a tyre failure the previous year, while driving for the Williams team, which led to a broken back.

Turn 13 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course was a high-speed banked turn, unique at the time in Formula One racing, which causes a greater than usual tyre loading. This section of the track had been repaved since the previous Grand Prix with a more abrasive surface which may have placed the tyres under even greater load than before. 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. The replacement tyres flown in, which were of the type used in the earlier that year, turned out to have the same problem when tested.

Correspondence between Michelin and the FIA

In a letter to FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting dated 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.

thumb|right|[[Tire|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.

Attempts at compromise

thumb|right|Alonso qualifying for the race

Paul Stoddart, the owner of Minardi, a team using Bridgestone tyres, published an account on 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. Furthermore, Ecclestone reported that Mosley had "stated that if any attempts were made to alter the circuit, he would cancel the Grand Prix forthwith". 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.

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.

The move by the teams, to come to the grid and then pull out after the formation lap into the pit lane, infuriated the fans, who did not know about the plan. BBC Radio broadcaster Maurice Hamilton said of the event, "Without question, it was the strangest race I commentated on in F1." The two Ferrari drivers quickly built a significant lead over their rivals. By lap 10, many of the estimated 100,000 to 130,000 attendees had begun to leave the grandstands. Thousands of fans were reported to have gone to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ticket office to demand refunds, and police were called to keep the peace. Boos were heard throughout the race, and some upset fans threw beer cans and water bottles on the track.

The race was a story of pit strategy, as the only passing on the circuit was of lapped traffic. Albers was the only car to run a three pit stop race, as all other drivers chose to stop only twice. The only lead changes came on lap 26, as Schumacher's 32-second stop gave Barrichello the lead, and on lap 51, as Schumacher turned in the quickest pit stop at 23.615 seconds, giving him enough time to exit the pit lane at the same time as Barrichello, with the result of forcing Barrichello into the grass of Turn One. After this incident, which was not investigated by race officials, both Ferrari drivers were reminded over their radios not to crash out of the race, and they both settled into a slower pace, comfortably ahead of the rest of the field. All four of the drivers for Jordan and Minardi scored their first points in Formula One at this race. This was also the final race at which the Minardi team tallied points and the only one where Albers and Friesacher scored points.

At the podium ceremony, at which none of the scheduled dignitaries were present, all Ferrari team members quietly accepted their awards, and quickly exited. Monteiro stayed behind to celebrate his first and only podium finish, and the first, and, as of 2025, only podium finish for a Portuguese driver.

Aftermath

thumb|Disgruntled fans blaming [[FIA president Max Mosley for the events of the race]]

The win, Schumacher's only victory of 2005, moved him from fifth to third in the World Drivers' Championship. Alonso and Räikkönen remained first and second in the championship standings, with 59 and 37 points respectively, while Schumacher moved up to 34 points. With his second-place finish, Barrichello went into fourth in the drivers championship, with 29 points, and Trulli dropped to fifth with 27 points. The race was labelled a farce, and David Coulthard said that "it throws into doubt the future of the race in US". The Guardian Richard Williams considered the prior disputes a factor in the failure to reach a compromise and felt that the events at this race had increased the risk of a complete rupture. After the race, Stoddart admitted immediately that nine teams – all but Ferrari – agreed not to race, and had Jordan not reversed its decision at the last minute, Minardi would also have boycotted the race. In his later lengthier statement, he indicated that although it had been Michelin's failure to provide a reliable tyre which had initiated the events, he laid the full blame for the failure to reach some accommodation (which would have allowed a race to happen, for the benefit of the many fans who had paid considerable money for travel and tickets) to Mosley and the FIA, with a small share of the blame going to what he characterized as the obstructionist Ferrari team leader, Jean Todt. He furthermore called for Mosley's resignation.

FIA's reaction

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. The FIA also summoned the seven Michelin-shod teams before the World Motor Sport 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. It later published copies of the letters sent to each team "in the interests of transparency". 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". 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 their 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. 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.

On June 29, the FIA World Motor Sport 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 was not decided, and was to be announced on September 14. On July 22, the FIA World Motor Sport 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". 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. Horner later stated in an interview that whilst it was "incredibly difficult" pulling out of the race, "there were things going on that were bigger than the sport that day".

Compensation

On June 28, Michelin announced that it would offer compensation to all race fans who had purchased tickets for the Grand Prix. 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. 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, the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix. The teams had apparently already discussed the idea with Bernie Ecclestone. The next day, Tony George dismissed the possibility, saying: "There will be no race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this fall."

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

Friday drivers

Teams that were not in the top four of the 2004 Constructors' Championship standings were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race, with the exception of Ricardo Zonta, who replaced Ralf Schumacher after his practice accident.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%"

! scope="col" | Constructor

! scope="col" | Driver

| McLaren-Mercedes

| Pedro de la Rosa

| Sauber-Petronas

| Red Bull-Cosworth

| Scott Speed

| Toyota

| Ricardo Zonta

| Jordan-Toyota

|  Robert Doornbos

| Minardi-Cosworth

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" | Driver

! scope="col" | Points

| 10px

| align="center"| 1

| Fernando Alonso

| 59

| 10px

| align="center"| 2

| Kimi Räikkönen

| 37

| 10px 2

| align="center"| 3

| Michael Schumacher

| 34

| 10px 3

| align="center"| 4

| Rubens Barrichello

| 29

| 10px 2

| align="center"| 5

| Jarno Trulli

| 27

!colspan=4|Source:

;Constructors' Championship standings

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" | Constructor

! scope="col" | Points

| 10px

| align="center"| 1

| Renault

| 76

| 10px

| align="center"| 2

| McLaren-Mercedes

| 63

| 10px 2

| align="center"| 3

| Ferrari

| 63

| 10px 1

| align="center"| 4

| Williams-BMW

| 47

| 10px 1

| align="center"| 5

| Toyota

| 47

!colspan=4|Source: