02/07/2005
NEWS STORY
At a special press conference held at Magny-Cours today, team bosses representing the 7 Michelin teams that withdrew form the United States Grand Prix indicated that there is a possibility of a non-championship F1 race being held at Indianapolis at the end of the current season.
"We said we'd do it if it was something that would supplement the already generous package offered by Michelin," Ron Dennis told reporters.
"We can only try and demonstrate by our actions and our proposals our acceptance that, innocent as we may be, we were party to the problem. It's for them to decide whether they want to take up the option or not."
It's understood that the seven teams have already approached Bernie Ecclestone, who will put the offer to Indianapolis boss Tony George.
The race would be held on the weekend of October 23, a week after the season climax in China. However, there is already concern at the Indianapolis weather at that time of the year.
It's unclear whether the Bridgestone teams would be invited, or even whether they would accept, but since this would be a non-championship race it would not be the end of the world if they opted not to attend. Then again, a unanimous decision by all ten teams might go some way to repairing F1's sullied image, especially if a charity were to benefit from TV revenue.
As with most things in F1, we'll believe it when we see it.