Michelin teams must await FIA punishment

FORMULA ONE has stepped back from the brink after world governing body the FIA opted to wait until September to punish the teams involved in the United States Grand Prix fiasco.

Seven Michelin teams were summoned to an FIA world motorsport council meeting in Paris yesterday to explain why they refused to start the race at Indianapolis, leaving only six cars in the United States Grand Prix.

The teams - Renault, McLaren, Williams, Toyota, Sauber, Red Bull and BAR - were found guilty of two charges but cleared of three allegations, including the more serious claims.

Punishment was deferred until September 14, by which time the FIA hope Michelin - who they are unable to punish directly - will act to restore Formula One’s image and ease the reprisals on their teams.

That ends fears of a boycott of this weekend’s French Grand Prix, while concerns over a heavy-handed FIA response, involving points deductions or bans, have also been calmed.

FIA president Max Mosley offered hope of a conciliatory solution, saying: “I cannot speak for the world council, but personally speaking I would be very reluctant to do anything with points unless what the person had done affected their sporting performance.

“It would not be appropriate to deduct points or ban people from a race. We do have ability to impose a fine and can do what we want with the money.

“We could impose fines and use that money to compensate. We said if you sort it out we will take a lenient view, if you don’t sort it out we will not take a lenient view.”

However, six of the teams, minus Red Bull, were “very disappointed” with their guilty verdicts. A statement read: “The teams explained to the world motorsport council that, in the light of the clear and written advice from Michelin that it was unsafe to race at Indianapolis on the tyres supplied by that company, the teams had no choice but to decline to race.

“The teams much regret that the American public were unable to enjoy a race involving all 10 Formula One teams.”

Michelin have already promised to do their bit in restoring Formula One’s tarnished image in the United States, giving the seven teams hope of a much-reduced punishment come September.

The French company have offered to refund the fans who turned up on race day, as well as distribute another 20,000 free tickets for the 2006 event among them.

The seven were found guilty of failing to arrive at Indianapolis with proper tyres and wrongfully refusing to allow their cars to race after Michelin issued a safety warning.

However, the teams were cleared of charges of failing to inform race stewards of their intention not to race, refusing to race subject to a speed limit and combining to put on a spectacle damaging to Formula One.

Red Bull, who were the only team to appear before the world council without a legal representative, did not join the other teams in responding to the verdicts.