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RETRO: What was it like to race in F1's most controversial grand prix?

Controversial? You mean the "wrong" guys won it? A Win is a win!
Butthead officials told us not to celebrate. Oh yeah? I'm going to have a good time as it should be!

Story #2....a root canal on race weekend.....by another racer....

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emailBy Mark Glendenning | 7 hours ago



YouTube has a video of the podium ceremony from the notorious 2005 United States Grand Prix, and watching it again 15 years on is quite something.

First, out come Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, the Ferrari pair wearing expressions usually reserved for someone contemplating whether to accept the offer of a blindfold. And then Tiago Monteiro arrives and runs through nearly every move in the F1 podium celebration playbook: thumbs-up, wide grin, air punch, double-point down at the team below, followed by more air punches and a blown kiss. He signs off by showering everyone within spray range with Mumm. The Portuguese driver’s unapologetic joy was the only sliver of normality in an otherwise bizarre situation.

***

The broad story of that race is well-known: it’s probably the one grand prix from the past two decades that even people who don’t watch F1 can remember. It put F1’s attempts to re-establish a footprint in the United States back a decade. And it was all because of tires.

Here’s a quick recap. Formula 1 had a tire war in 2005 that pitched the Michelins used by the majority of the grid against the Bridgestone-shod Ferraris, Jordans and Minardis. The Michelins had a general reputation for being the more user-friendly of the two, perhaps in part because they were forced to develop a tire that worked for a variety of teams, while 100% of Bridgestone’s competitive hopes were tied to the Scuderia. But when the cars took to the track in Indianapolis, a rapid-fire string of failures at Turn 13 (Turn 1 on the Speedway, but taken in the opposite direction for the F1 road course layout) raised the uncomfortable prospect of Michelin having badly underestimated the loads that the tires would encounter. Bridgestone was also supplying teams in IndyCar through its Firestone brand at the time, so it might have had an edge in that regard.

Tire changes had been banned in F1 that year, and Michelin could only guarantee the safety of its tires for 10 laps. A series of endless meetings, arguments, emails, faxes and gesticulations failed to deliver a compromise: the solutions proposed by Michelin, such as the addition of a chicane, were unpalatable to the FIA, while Bridgestone, which had brought a tire that functioned perfectly well, didn’t see why it should be penalized because of its rival’s mistake.

“We [Jordan] were struggling big-time, all year long,” Monteiro recalls. “And we had our share of problems with tires at other tracks. We had issues at Monza with the Bridgestones – we could hardly finish the race because of the tires delaminating. So we had lots of issues ourselves, and we always tried to finish, and always tried to put on a show. We could not accept the fact that Michelin arrived in Indianapolis with a risky tire, and the best solution they could find was just to stop racing. That was not acceptable to us.”

Prior to the race start, it was widely understood that the Michelin cars would do something, but only those carrying Michelin branding knew exactly what. The entire field formed up on the pre-grid as normal and headed out for the installation lap, and in video clips of the start, the TV commentators speak with mounting disbelief and then disgust as the Michelin cars begin to peel into pitlane. According to Monteiro, the Bridgestone teams were as surprised as everyone else.
And… we’re racing. The smoke is the product of Narain Karthikeyan’s battle to find traction. Image by Motorsport Images

“Everything around going out onto the grid, and even the pre-grid, was regular, so nobody knew exactly what [the Michelin-shod cars] were going to do,” he says. “[Jordan team principal] Colin Kolles was telling us, ‘Guys, we don’t believe they will do a regular race. They might stop for more pitstops than usual, they might come through pitlane, they might slow down in that corner, but something will happen. So there is a real possibility of points.’

“We had not been thinking about that, because we never thought that all of them would stop. We thought that maybe some teams would stop, or slow down in one section. They never told us. There’d been maybe 20 meetings during that weekend, and because they hadn’t been able to find a common agreement (on possible solutions)… they were proposing a chicane, they were proposing cancellation of the whole weekend, they were proposing everyone coming through the pits… there was a lot of things they were proposing, and the Bridgestone teams never accepted it. So they decided not to communicate with us anymore. Until the start, nobody knew what was going to happen.

“When they all came to the grid, we were sure that they were all going to at least start, and then do something careful during the race. Colin told us: ‘There are points available for sure this weekend, so don’t mess it up – we need the points, and we need the money.’

“Of course, there was a lot of pressure because of that. We did the warm-up lap, which [the Michelin teams] did as well, and as soon as their cars starting going into the pits, I hear my engineer over the radio: ‘This car is coming into the pits. OK, this one, too. This one, as well. And this one. OK, they’re all coming in! You stay in your position! Do not come into the pits! Stay in your position! Do not move on the grid. Stop on your position.’

By not coming into the pits, it moved you up closer to the front compared to the ones who came out of the pits behind you.

“So that’s what we did. The Ferraris were up near the front, and we left the space and lined up at the back. Until then, I hadn’t realized that there was a podium possibility. I knew there was a points possibility.”

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Part 2

RETRO: What was it like to race in F1's most controversial grand prix?

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emailBy Mark Glendenning | 7 hours ago

The performance gap between the Michelins and Bridgestones had been evident all year, and qualifying in Indianapolis had merely served to reinforce that. Schumacher qualified best of the Bridgestone runners in fifth, albeit more than 0.7s off Jarno Trulli’s pole-sitting Toyota. Barrichello was two spots back; the pair sandwiching world-champion-in-the-making Fernando Alonso’s Renault. The rest of the Bridgestones were stuck in the cheap seats. Monteiro lined up in P17 ahead of Christijan Albers’ Minardi, leaving Narain Karthikeyan’s Jordan and Patrick Friesacher’s Minardi to fill the back row.

“My direct competitors were there, because all year long, we’d been fighting with the Minardis basically, and once in a while one of the other teams,” says Monteiro. “So this was the one race where you needed to finish in front of those cars.”

There were four empty rows between Monteiro and Barrichello, and when the lights went out, he made the most of the empty road ahead to position his car where he needed to in order to ward off any challenge at Turn 1. Behind him, Karthikeyan slightly fluffed his start, and after a brief joust with Albers, fell in behind the Dutchman. By the time he found a way around him later in the race, Monteiro was long gone.

“I wanted to get a good start; I wanted to pull away from [the cars around me]; I didn’t want to be under pressure,” he says. “We’d had our share of technical issues, so there was no guarantee that we’d finish the race. We had a lot of mechanical DNFs [as a team]. And even though I had a very good record of finishing the races, you never know until it happens.

“So for three-quarters of the race, I pushed like hell – I thought, whatever happens, I just need to get away from those guys. So I was pushing. I was able to pull away, and halfway through the race my engineer says, ‘You have 20s or whatever – it was a huge gap – so take it easy now; maybe slow it down by a second a lap or something.’ And I said, ‘No, no – I don’t want to lose focus.’ So I kept pushing. And then, maybe a quarter of the race to go, we started to have gearbox temperature problems. So they came back on and told me, ‘OK, now you really have to slow down, because we have high temperatures on the gearbox. So cool it down.’

“Of course I had to, obviously. But then your mind starts thinking about things. First of all, that was the first moment when I realized, ‘****, I’m actually P3 in the race.’ Second of all, I had a huge gap – like, 30s – but there were still 15, 20 laps to go, so lots of things could still happen. And I could hear so many noises! Your mind starts playing games, so suddenly the gearbox felt weird, the brakes felt weird, the engine felt weird… everything was weird.
There weren’t a lot of happy faces in the Speedway after the race, but some of the rare exceptions of a happy face could be found anywhere the Jordan crew was congregating. Image by Motorsport Images

“I tried to focus again, and again, and again. And then 10 laps to go there was a nightmare, because we had an alarm – a temperature alarm or something like that – and I was, ‘Oh, I cannot believe it’… I was already worried that I was going to get criticized for pushing too much because I didn’t need that much of a gap, and now this.

“It was one of the most mentally challenging races I’ve done. Apart from the pitstop I was mostly alone, but I was pushing like hell. I was doing qualifying laps every lap. My biggest concern was that I didn’t want to be under pressure at the end; I wanted to get away from the other guys and then just manage the end of the race. I pushed like crazy. And with all the small problems that started to happen… it was quite stressful.”

That stress was lifted at the end of lap 72, when Schumacher and Barrichello put the race out of its misery by taking the checkered flag in what was the nearest thing Ferrari will ever have to an uncontested 1-2. Monteiro kept his head and his car together to secure an invaluable third for his team.

“When I got back… everyone was celebrating like crazy, because there were bonuses for everybody,” he says. “First of all there was the joy of getting points, but then there was the financial aspect – the team was going to get huge benefits at the end of the season. Plus the prize money, of which everybody got a cut. So everyone was excited about that. But also, the team hadn’t had a podium for two or three years, so it was very rewarding for all of the hard work that all of those guys were doing.”

Coincidentally, Jordan’s previous podium had also been earned under unusual circumstances – Giancarlo Fisichella was classified second behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen at a rain-shortened visit to Brazil in 2003, but confusion over the timing of the red flag prompted Jordan to appeal, and Fisichella was subsequently awarded the win in a courtroom.

***

The six cars finished Noah’s Ark-style – in pairs, a lap apart. Karthikeyan crossed the line in fourth, the two Jordans a lap down on the Ferraris, and the Minardis of Albers and Friesacher came in a further lap behind.

The final classification was incongruous, but it was also poignant. Monteiro’s result was the 19th and last podium that the Jordan team would ever score, while the simple achievement of getting both of its cars to complete the race distance earned Minardi its final-ever points. Simultaneously heroic and underwhelming, it was a result entirely in keeping with Minardi’s DNA. Neither team survived the winter, and when 2006 rolled around, Midland F1 and Toro Rosso had taken their place. [Jordan was already under Midland ownership in 2005, but had continued racing under its old name.]

It was also the sole win for Ferrari’s F2005. Already at a disadvantage by being on Bridgestones, it was also saddled with aerodynamic problems and a clunky transmission: a rare Maranello misstep after five consecutive championships. Schumacher managed to drag it onto the podium just two more times over the remaining 10 races of the season.

But historical context was something for Monteiro to think about later. First, he had a third-place trophy to collect.

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RETRO: What was it like to race in F1's most controversial grand prix?

Image by Motorsport Images
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emailBy Mark Glendenning | 7 hours ago

“After the race, they put you in a room and give you some water and stuff while you wait for the podium, and a few guys from the FIA and David Warren from Allsport [ED: which controlled trackside signage and other commercial activities] came to us and said, ‘Guys, this is a very tricky one. We have a lot of very unhappy fans out there, but we also have some happy fans. So we have to go out there and do the podium, but please don’t get too crazy. Show your faces, but please, no champagne and so on.’

“So we walked out to the podium, calm. They [Schumacher and Barrichello] had cooled it down and were being more serious, and I was going to follow that stance. But then I looked down and saw 30, 40, 50 yellow-dressed Jordan mechanics crying, cheering and all excited. No way could I not enjoy that moment with them. So I let it go, and enjoyed the podium like it was a regular podium – I sprayed the champagne and celebrated with my team.

“Unfortunately I couldn’t celebrate properly with them because for some reason I had a flight booked home for that night. Usually I flew out on the Monday, but for some reason I had a flight booked for that night, so I celebrated in the plane with Jenson Button and Mark Webber.”

Monteiro delivered the team a final payday with a point-scoring finish at Spa later that year, and after one more season in F1 with Midland he moved to the World Touring Car Championship, where he’s now a 12-time race winner. But it’s a third place scored a decade-and-a-half ago that people still ask him about.

“It could have gone in so many other ways,” he says. “But in the end, I have no doubt that this result helped me, in many ways, over the rest of my career. To this day, people from all over the world ask me about it. And every year on the anniversary I receive hundreds of messages, and photos and videos, because I’m the only Portuguese driver who has ever gone onto an F1 podium. For better or for worse, it will stay in the story of Formula 1 forever.”
Monteiro celebrates after “one of the most mentally challenging races I’ve done.” Image by Motorsport Images.
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SIDEBAR: Monteiro’s other entry in the F1 record books is even more weird than the 2005 U.S. GP.

Five races after the 2005 United States Grand Prix debacle, the world championship rolled into Istanbul, where Monteiro earned one of the strangest footnotes in Formula 1 history: he appears to be the first F1 driver ever to have been given emergency root canal surgery on a grand prix weekend… by his team boss. Monteiro takes up the story.

“It was a unique situation!” he says. “First of all, not many team principals are doctors or dentists. And second, you don’t hear a lot about drivers getting toothaches like that on race weekends, thank God. It was the only one like that I’ve had in my life, but it happened at the wrong moment and it was a big one. I had a huge abscess. They took me to the hospital, and Colin [Kolles] wanted to come with me. I was like, ‘Oh, no…’, because now, we’re quite good friends, but at the time, we had… some tension. It was a bit of a weird relationship. So I was not looking forward to having him come with me.

“When we get there, the young lady starts to work on me, and she’s actually hurting me. And she’s nervous, because Colin wants to work on me, and she’s saying, ‘No, no, you don’t work here; you cannot do it.’ And we are in Turkey. The hospital was actually quite modern, but still…

“So she didn’t even want him in the room, and he’s, ‘No, no, no, he’s my driver; I’m going to take care of it! I’m a dentist! I have many more years of experience than you!’

“So he stays in the room, and she starts to treat me. And she’s so nervous that she’s shaking, and she’s hurting me, and he’s shouting at her. And I’m lying there thinking, ‘Oh, what the ****…’ So he takes her, puts her out of the room, closes the door, and for me, this is a ****ing nightmare. Can you imagine: Colin Kolles, all red, completely pissed off, he’s just taken the girl out of the room, and he says, ‘Don’t worry, I will take care of you. This is my profession, blah, blah, blah.’ And I’m just, ‘OK, whatever.’

“And it was the smoothest treatment I have ever had. He did the root canal, took the abscess away, and everything was nice and safe. I was so impressed with his work. It was very, very good work that he did. But a very strange story. He saved me that weekend. And I was very surprised that he was so gentle and so good with his hands.”

For Monteiro, the experience was a one-off, but for Kolles, it was a warm-up act. The following season, he performed a similar procedure on Monteiro’s new Midland teammate Christijan Albers before the French Grand Prix.