US Grand Prix: The strangest race in Formula One history?
Ad Feedback
Photos: F1's strangest race?
AFP/Getty Images
Schumacher wins race of six —
The US Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2005 was won by Michael Schumacher. But the race is remembered less for his victory, than the number of starters -- just six cars, rather than the normal 20.
Photos: F1's strangest race?
Getty Images
Crash controversy —
A puncture during practice caused Ralf Schumacher's Toyota to crash at the banked final turn -- the fastest part of the track -- sparking the controversy that led to so few cars starting the race.
Photos: F1's strangest race?
AFP/Getty Images
Tire trouble —
Toyota used Michelin rubber and, after further investigation into the tire failure, Michelin advised the seven teams who used their tires -- Renault, McLaren, Williams, Toyota, BAR, Sauber and Red Bull -- not to race.
Photos: F1's strangest race?
Getty Images
Farce unfolds —
At the end of the parade lap, the seven Michelin teams peeled off into the pit lane -- leaving only Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi to contest the race.
Photos: F1's strangest race?
Getty Images
Bizarre race —
"I can clearly recall my heart sinking when one car after another peeled into the pit lane," said BBC commentator Maurice Hamilton.
Photos: F1's strangest race?
AFP/Getty Images
Fan fury —
"The fans were incensed -- and rightly so," added Hamilton. "While the mood in the paddock was a mix of bewilderment, silent anger and resignation."
Photos: F1's strangest race?
Getty Images
A testy relationship —
With motorsport fans left feeling so shortchanged it nearly drove Formula One out of the US for good.
Photos: F1's strangest race?
Getty Images
Ecclestone action —
When the contract for the US race expired at the end of 2007, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone chose not to renew his deal with Indianapolis for the following season.
Photos: F1's strangest race?
Getty Images
Bittersweet track for Barrichello —
In 2002, Michael Schumacher suggested he had conceded victory at Indianapolis to his then teammate Rubens Barrichello as a gesture of thanks after he had overtaken the Brazilian under Ferrari team orders to win in Austria.
Photos: F1's strangest race?
Circuit of the Americas
U.S. GP back on track —
The US returned to F1 in 2012 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Editor’s Note: A version of this article was first published by CNN on November 8, 2012.
CNN
—
If you were a Formula One fan who attended the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2005, it could be argued you witnessed one of the strangest races in motorsport history.
A field of 20 cars should have lined up for the race, but on that Sunday of June 19 just six were on the starting grid.
It was the result of a bizarre sequence of events which left fans feeling so shortchanged it nearly drove F1 out of the US for good.
So frustrated was the Indianapolis crowd that fans hissed and hurled bottles when Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari led home the six drivers – as the other 14 brooded in their garages.
“It was sad not to have the GP that we wished to have,” Rubens Barrichello, who finished second behind his Ferrari teammate, told CNN.
“The weekend was long. It was sad because of something we weren’t prepared for and something the fans didn’t understand.
“It was a horrible feeling not to see the cars racing, but unfortunately it wasn’t safe for everyone to race.”
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Lars Baron/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton sprays second-placed Sebastian Vettel with champagne after winning the Abu Dhabi season-ending race, 11th of his title winning season.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Lars Baron/Getty Images South America/Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton celebrates his 10th win of the season as he takes the Brazilian GP ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Dan Istitene/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton savors the moment after clinching his fifth F1 world title with fourth place behind Max Verstappen in the Mexican Grand Prix.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Mark Thompson/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
Race winner Kimi Raikkonen is flanked by second-placed Max Verstappen (far left) and Lewis Hamilton, who finished third after a thrilling US Grand Prix. Hamilton increased his title lead to 70 points over Sebastian Vettel ahead of the final three rounds of the championship.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Charles Coates/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
Race winner Lewis Hamilton had plenty to celebrate after claiming victory in the Japanese GP at Suzuka to lead the world championship by 67 points with four rounds remaining.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Clive Mason/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton (no 44) overtook fellow Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas under team orders on his way to a decisive victory in the 2018 F1 title race as he extended his advantage over Sebastian Vettel to 50 points.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Clive Mason/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton led from pole position in his famous No.44 Mercedes and took his seventh victory of the season on the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Will Taylor-Medhurst/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Hamilton stormed to a record-equalling fifth Italian Grand Prix victory -- overtaking both Ferraris in the process.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton celebrates with the trophy on the podium after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring near Budapest to extend his title lead over Sebastian Vettel to 24 points.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Hamilton celebrates an extraordinary comeback win at the German Grand Prix to give him a 17-point championship lead as title rival Sebastian Vettel crashed out
Photos: Story of the F1 season
ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Dutch driver Max Verstappen claims a dramatic victory at the home of Red Bull Racing. But how does that impact the Drivers' Championship?
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Mark Thompson/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
Melbourne, Australia -- 'Lucky' Vettel wins season opener —
Sebastian Vettel took full advantage of a bizarre incident involving both cars of the American-owned Haas team to claim the opening race of the 2018 Formula One season in Australia.
Sakhir, Bahrain -- Ferrari win soured by injured mechanic —
Vettel won for the second time in as many races at the Bahrain Grand Prix. But the Italian team's victory was overshadowed after one of its mechanics suffered a broken leg when he was hit by Kimi Raikkonen's car during a pit stop.
An inspired Daniel Ricciardo claimed a remarkable and unexpected victory from sixth on the grid after a tactical masterstroke by his Red Bull team in Shanghai, with furious championship leader Vettel back in eighth place.
Baku, Azerbaijan -- Red Bull drivers shockingly crash as Hamilton triumphs —
Lewis Hamilton was the chief beneficiary of a late puncture suffered by his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas as he clinched his first win of the season at April's action-packed Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Barcelona, Spain -- Lewis Hamilton leads Mercedes one-two —
After his unlikely victory in Azerbaijan, it was a second straight win for Hamilton as he bids for a fifth world championship -- and it could not have been more comfortable.
Ricciardo nursed his ailing Red Bull to a remarkable victory on the streets of Monte Carlo and with it made up for his 2016 heartbreak on the same circuit.
Dan Istitene/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
Canada -- Vettel wins to take title initiative —
Sebastian Vettel's 50th career victory saw him replace Lewis Hamilton at the top of the championship standings to cap an emotional day for the Ferrari team.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Charles Coates/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
Briton Lewis Hamilton won the first French Grand Prix since 2008. The Mercedes driver avoided the worst of a dramatic start that saw title rival Sebastian Vettel clip Valtteri Bottas. Both drivers sustained damage in the collision, forcing them to pit early them and fall to the back of the grid.
Austria -- Verstappen wins after Mercedes meltdown —
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won a dramatic Austrian Grand Prix as hitherto championship leader Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, were forced to retire.
Britain -- Vettel wins despite Hamilton fightback —
Home favorite Lewis Hamilton was denied a sixth victory at the British Grand Prix as Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took control of the championship at Silverstone
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Dan Istitene/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Drivers' title race after round 10 —
Vettel - 171Hamilton - 163Raikkonen - 116
Photos: Story of the F1 season
ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Germany -- Advantage Hamilton as Vettel crashes out —
Hamilton fought back from 14th on the grid to claim an astonishing victory as Vettel crashed out at Hockenheim.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Drivers' title race after round 11 —
Hamilton - 188 Vettel - 171 Raikkonen - 131
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Laszlo Balogh/AP
Hungary -- Hamilton extends title lead with 'beautiful' win —
Hamilton went into F1's summer break with a season-high 24-point advantage in the title race over Vettel after winning at the Hungaroring.
Fernando Alonso's car was launched over the top of Charles Leclerc on the opening corner of the Belgian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel went on to win at Spa to cut Lewis Hamilton's lead at the top of the Driver Standings to 17 points.
Photos: Story of the F1 season
Dan Mullan/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Drivers' title race after round 12 —
Hamilton -- 231Vettel -- 214Raikkonen - 146
Photos: Story of the F1 season
ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Ferrari's sea of fans -- the 'Tifosi' -- hold up a flag making fun of Lewis Hamilton, but he has the last laugh, winning the Italian Grand Prix for the fifth time
The controversy unfolded after a punctured tire during practice caused Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota to crash at the circuit’s banked final turn – the fastest part of the track.
Toyota used Michelin rubber and, after further investigation into the tire failure, Michelin advised the seven teams who used their tires – Renault, McLaren, Williams, Toyota, BAR, Sauber and Red Bull – not to race.
Faced with a dilemma over whether to risk racing on unsafe tires, nine of the teams – including Jordan and Minardi, who along with Ferrari ran on Bridgestone tires – agreed only to compete if a chicane was added to the final turn to lessen the tire load.
But Ferrari and motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, vetoed the plan. From there, the race descended into farce.
As all 20 cars circled the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the formation lap, it was still unclear whether the Michelin teams intended to boycott the race.
Red Bull driver David Coulthard even argued on the team radio: “If it comes down to my choice, I want to race.”
But at the end of the parade lap, the seven Michelin teams peeled off into the pit lane – leaving only Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi on the grid.
“Without question it was the strangest race I commentated on in F1,” remembered commentator Maurice Hamilton, who was calling the race for BBC Radio.
“I can clearly recall my heart sinking when one car after another peeled into the pit lane.
“The full extent of the problem became apparent when the camera showed just six cars on the grid – and in their original positions, separated by huge gaps.
“I have no idea how my fellow commentator Ian Phillips and I got through the next hour and a half. I was praying the producer in London would switch to the US Open golf but she didn’t!”
For the six racers on track, the events of that day were no less bizarre as they raced strung out on the asphalt.
Barrichello was involved in the race’s only incident of note, when Schumacher squeezed the Brazilian’s car onto the grass as he emerged from the pit lane to retake the lead.
“Sometimes you do race alone so the US GP wasn’t strange for that,” said Barrichello with the pragmatism of a racer who has taken part in more grands prix than any other driver in F1 history.
“But it was bad because mentally you knew that there was only six cars out on the track. For me, I still had to fight for it but it was a horrible feeling.”
A weekend of petty squabbling and farcical racing undoubtedly left US fans with a bitter taste in their mouths.
“The fans were incensed – and rightly so,” said Hamilton. “While the mood in the paddock was a mix of bewilderment, silent anger and resignation.”
Many felt then FIA president Max Mosley had not done enough to find a compromise which would have allowed all 20 cars to race.
Michelin also faced criticism for failing to bring suitable tires to the race and the French company later agreed to refund disgruntled fans.
“I thought that would be the end of the US GP,” Hamilton recalled. “But reparation by Michelin and the passage of time brought a surprisingly large crowd back in 2006.
“F1 fans in the US may be a small percentage of that huge sporting audience but they are very loyal and knowledgeable.”
Michael Schumacher claims victory in a drastically reduced 2005 US Grand Prix.
AFP/Getty Images
Racing history
Over the last few years, the outrage at the events of 2005 has mellowed into rose-tinted nostalgia.
“I call it the train wreck theory,” said Bob Varsha, who was the voice of the sport in the US on the now-defunct Speed TV.
“As time goes by people get over the shock of not being provided the show they paid their ticket price for. The 2005 race was the kind of event where people want to say ‘Yes I saw that, I was there for that.’
“People look back at it now as a phenomenal moment in racing history.”
At the time, however, that was not the way F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone viewed the race.
When the contract for the US GP expired at the end of 2007, Ecclestone chose not to renew his deal with Indianapolis for the following season.
Both parties insisted money wasn’t the only factor. F1 wanted to expand its horizons and in 2008, the US race was gone as Singapore rejoined the wold championship calendar.
Free gifts
For Barrichello, the events of 2005 echoed another bittersweet race at Indianapolis.
Three years earlier he had taken his only US GP victory by just 0.011 seconds – the second closest finish in F1 history.
But there had been no breathless surge to the checkered flag to snatch victory from defeat.
Michael Schumacher, who had been leading the race, tried to lead the two Ferraris across the line in a dead heat. But the plan backfired and Barrichello edged the narrowest of wins.
Afteward, Schumacher suggested he had conceded victory to the Brazilian as a gesture of thanks after he had overtaken Barrichello under team orders to win the Austrian Grand Prix.
Many felt the result in the U.S. was manipulated and cheated fans who had turned out in high numbers, even though Schumacher had wrapped up the 2002 title two months earlier.
“That is a story that we never talked about,” recalled Barrichello.
“I was pushing Michael hard up to the last straight and he backed off and it was almost instant that I backed off too – no thanks, I don’t want any free gifts like that.
“Then he backed off even more and I had to think ‘I’ll go for it’ but then he may have thought ‘OK he doesn’t want it, I’ll go for it’ – and I think that is why it went so close.
“When you dislike something you must try to see something in a different way and try to enjoy it when you do well. I had to think ‘a win is a win.’”
