Michelin plan to stay in F1

Michelin plan to stay in Formula One despite the fact that the teams using their tyres did not race in Sunday's US GP over safety concerns.

"I really don't believe this will have an effect on Michelin's future in F1," Michelin's deputy director of competition Frederic Henry-Biabaud told Reuters yesterday.

The French company, which provides tyres to seven of the 10 Formula One teams, instructed the teams not to start the race after two Toyotas had crashed in free practice on Friday because of sudden tyre failure.

As a result, only the six cars racing on Bridgestone tyres started the race at Indianapolis, which was won by world champion Michael Schumacher, driving a Ferrari.

"We are convinced our decision was a professional and a responsible one in line with our policy of 100 per cent safety," said Henry-Biabaud.

"We deeply regret what happened and we feel particularly sorry for the fans. We regret the consequences of this but we certainly do not regret our decision."

Michelin checked the tyres all night after Friday's crashes, conducting tests in the United States but also on similar tyres in France, before coming to the conclusion that they were not absolutely safe.

New tyres brought in by Michelin from France were then ruled out after tests by the company.

Meanwhile, the sport's governing body said that the seven Michelin-equipped teams who refused to race in the US Grand Prix damaged themselves and Formula One.

"Formula One is a sporting contest. It must operate to clear rules," the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement.

"These cannot be negotiated each time a competitor brings the wrong equipment to a race."

The FIA said that rather than boycott the race, the Michelin teams should have agreed to run at reduced speeds.

"The rules would have been kept, they would have earned championship points and the fans would have had a race," it said.

"As it is, by refusing to run unless the FIA broke the rules and handicapped the Bridgestone runners, they have damaged themselves and the sport."

Michelin teams have been ordered to appear before a hearing of Formula One's ruling body to explain their part in the US Grand Prix tyre fiasco.

The hearing will take place in Paris on June 29, the FIA said in a separate statement yesterday.