23/06/2005
NEWS STORY
Although at least one of his colleagues regularly comes in for a lot of 'stick', British F1 broadcaster ITV's Ted Kravitz does his best to get in amongst it and ask the right questions.
As the Indianapolis furore continues, Kravitz, writing for his employer's website has come up with an interesting bit of info, which if true, appears to indicate that Toyota pretty much knew on Saturday that it would not be racing on Sunday.
According to Kravitz, the Japanese team was aware almost from the outset of the US GP weekend - and certainly following the incidents involving Ralf Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta - that its Michelin tyres were terminal.
How did they know?
Because former Michelin Project Manager, Pascal Vasselon, joined them at the end of the 2004 season.
Vasselon is sure to have kept in touch with former colleagues and this, together with his own knowledge of the French manufacturer's product, may well have been enough to tell him that there was serious trouble afoot, and not just for Toyota.
Therefore, armed with this information, Kravitz believes that the Japanese team sent Jarno Trulli out on a death or glory - no pun intended - qualifying lap on Saturday, on fumes, knowing that should the race go ahead - which it very much doubted - the Italian might have had to pit on the second lap of the race.
Having done some digging around, Pitpass believes that Ted may be on to something.
Well done Ted!