JUNE 20, 2005

So what did the fans think of that?

After the United States Grand Prix we went out into the crowd and asked the people we met what they thought about the events of the day. We found people from all over the United States, many of them having travelled long distances to be at Indianapolis. In addition we have also been receiving e-mails for irritated fans. Here are some of the reactions:

Rena Sagorski, Cologne, Germany:

"The best man won. We are Michael Schumacher fans. The rest was bullshit. A lot of people spent a lot of money because we wanted to see a race. A real race. Not a fake."

Giulliano El-Bader, Georgia

"We were kind of mad. We came here on Wednesday and we have been hanging around for days to see six cars. It kind of sucks. The FIA has rules that doesn't let the teams change tyres. That's ridiculous. It's a competition and a show and we are the ones who paid."

Christopher Weick, Florida

"I know there was a problem with the tyres but we 're really not sure what the exact problem was. It is my first Formula 1 race. I've been wanting to come for a long time and it was good to see some cars. I would have loved to have seen a full grid. I said to the guys I was with that whatever it was we were seeing was a bit of history but I would like to have seen more cars. I would come back and watch F1 again."

Don Rapuzzi, North Carolina

"It is just unfortunate that commonsense did not prevail today. They had a problem and they could have fixed it. I enjoyed myself but did I get value for money? I tell you that it was definitely worth it on Friday. We paid $10 and saw all the cars. On Saturday I think we paid $20 and it was good. Today we paid $150 so it wasn't great."

Jason Wall, Washington DC

"I think it is ridiculous. I cannot think of any other sporting event where you are spending $150 and you don't get to see the show for political reasons or whatever it was. You'd never see that in America. It's lucky this wasn't a NASCAR crowd because they would got pretty rowdy about it. I won't go to another F1 race."

David White, Western Canada

"At last the Formula 1 or F1 has successfully shot themselves in the foot. They (that is the combined they) have pissed off the largest market for their product in the world. My wife and I are just two of the people. I am a long time GP supporter, having been present at Silverstone when Juan Manuel Fangio was racing. It is so long ago that I have forgotten the date. I have had concerns regarding F1 for some time regarding drivers from the same team not seriously racing each other. And now this. The thing is that F1 and any race like this is a spectator event and is therefore entertainment, not a sport. Fans pay very high prices to watch and companies advertise pay vast amounts to put ads on during the TV commercial breaks. Both of these groups are what keep the show going. Wake up F1 and get with it. If you lose the fan base and the advertisers you have nothing left."