Goodbye Michelin

[DaveKillens]

Well, we all saw the writing on the wall, and the decision is now official, Michelin will pull out of F1. It's a shame, that a manufacturer that has spectacular success in motorsport feel they have to abandon Formula One.
The people in charge in F1 say it's in the interests of saving money, but I do have to feel contempt at what I perceive as politics driving Michelin away.
Since last year's rule change that eliminated tire changes, the advantage went to Michelin over Bridgestone. Obviously, for this format Michelin got it much better than Bridgestone, and to make another quick rule change obviously negates the advantage that Michelin had. It's back to a level playing field, allowing Bridgestone back into the hunt.
The newest rule changed was to go to just one tire supplier, and I'm sure, along with Michelin, that this honor was going to be awarded to Bridgestone.
IMO, having more than one supplier does foster good competition. If we followed Max's logic, then it would be sufficient to have just one tire supplier in F1. And if so, why not just one engine, one chassis, one fuel, and so on and so on. I hope the fans turn an eye toward NASCAR and their policy of having just Goodyear supply tires. Despite the official naysaying and hype, those Goodyears just suck. The race at Charlotte turned into a farce when tires were failing on a too regular basis. It definitely turned a race into a pathetic show. Having just one tire supplier eventually leads to inferior crap, tires that exist just to hold the car up and provide advertising space for the tire manufacturer.

[manchild]

Don’t be sad Dave

Michelin will leave F1 competition together with GPMA teams. I think that it is all part of this war – if FIA comes to its senses and stops current policy GPMA and Michelin will stay. Otherwise, if FIA continues insisting on moronification of F1 if favor of Bridgestone and you-know-who than breakaway will occur.

GM is near bankruptcy and we’ll see what will happen with FIAT/Ferrari in a year or two. If Punto Grande fails in 2006, by 2008 FIAT will be bought by some manufacturer from GPMA and that will change everything. In general, I think that there is a lot to be seen in next 2-3 years. Mossley was shamelessly insulting Michelin whole season, putting the blame for all his the cock-ups on them, making unjust trials than withdrawing verdicts etc.

FIA wants Bridgestone and only Bridgestone in F1 – WHY? Unless FIA is obsessed with that company than it must be financial interest on route Ferrari-Fiat-GM-Firestone-Bridgestone. I wonder what is the structure of Firestone/Bridgestone and GM - who are the owners/shareholders?

There must be a bigger financial interest besides Mossley’s. He is just a middle man in control of legislating body abusing that position for personal interest. So, I keep my fingers crossed for Clio 3 and 207 to wipe out new Punto Grande out of the market so that Mossley’s empire starts falling down.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/051115/gm_bankr ... .html?.v=7

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P136968.asp

[RH1300S]

Michelin can hold their heads high, this year a clean sweep of almost every major motorsport championship - great effort.

They might be leaving F1, but they remain a force in motorsport elsewhere

I'll share these salient words from Edouard Michelin with you.......

"We've had an exceptional year," he explained. "Results improve the image of the company as they are a tremendous test for research, but with a single supplier F1 will partly lose its high technology.

"We've always been against a lack of competition among tyre manufacturers. To ban competition is the first step towards a single engine and a single bodywork, that is progressively transforming current races into promotional races."

Hard to argue with that stance ....

[wowf1]

It's interesting to think about whether the teams would have had prior warning to Michelin's pull out after 2006. For example, Williams will have a head start over Mclaren with regards to Bridgestone tyre development as they have opted for Bridgestone for the 2006 season.

If Michelin made it known to teams of their intended pullout, I guess the teams would have been faced with a bit of a dilemna! Michelin could well be the best tyre in 2006, yielding possibly a World Championship. However, in the long-term all teams will run on Bridgestones. Maybe some teams have sacrificed long-term competitiveness for a season of glory

I'm not implying it would be too drastic a sacrifice, but maybe enough to make them think twice.

[DaveKillens]

It has to be remembered that one design parameter of a Formula One car is the tire design. To switch tire manufacturers could result in a car that has very different properties. And most of the cars designed for the '06 season were planned months ago, long before it was official about Michelin leaving. So if a team like McLaren switched tires at this time, they may find their car not as good as before.
But it would be interesting if a car shod with Michelins won the '06 title. They would go out on top, despite the political intrigue.