F1 boycott threat over safety fears

Safety fears could cause a mass boycott of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, it emerged today.

Michelin are concerned that their tyres are not safe to use on Indianapolis’ famous banking after Ralf Schumacher crashed heavily yesterday following a puncture.

They advised teams to run different set-ups on their cars for practice but concerns remain that the rubber will not last the 73 laps of tomorrow’s race.

Michelin are flying in a new batch of tyres in time for the race but need permission from world governing body the FIA to use them tomorrow.

If they are not permitted to use the different tyres, teams may boycott the race having been warned by Michelin that the current rubber is not suitable.

Renault boss Flavio Briatore said: “We fully support Michelin in this situation, and in the efforts they are making to best resolve it. They are flying out different tyres to use in tomorrow’s race – the same that were used in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix.

“The authorisation to use them has not yet been granted, but if that were not given, we would not compete in tomorrow’s race. The safety of our drivers remains our number one priority.”

Michelin’s Formula One chief Nick Shorrock explained the problem, saying: “The teams wanted to know why we had that problem, we have tried to explain that to them and they accepted to go away and work with us using the specifications we gave them.

“Until we can fully understand why we had those difficulties yesterday afternoon we are continuing testing here and in Clermont-Ferrand because it is important to us that we can understand why the tyre failed.”