INDIANAPOLIS - Formula One faces an uncertain reception when it returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for the US grand prix with many fans still bitter over last year's fiasco.
After a tyre controversy sparked a boycott that reduced the 2005 race to six cars, American Formula One fans will not quickly forget the sight of the 14 cars running on Michelins retiring after the parade lap over safety issues.
Angry spectators packed into the sprawling "Brickyard" were quick to express their unhappiness, showering the track with litter and loudly booing as Michael Schumacher's Ferrari won in the hollowest victory of the seven-time world champion's career.
Three days of bickering culminating in a farcical race that resulted in a huge black eye for Formula One, which has struggled to capture the attention of American motorsport fans.
A year later, the fallout continues to be felt with the two principals in dispute, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, continuing to snipe in the build-up to Monday's (NZ time) race.
With the contract for an American race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway up for renewal, Ecclestone has taken a hard line stance, saying Formula One does not need a race in the US
"It doesn't matter to Formula One if there's no US grand prix," Ecclestone told The Times newspaper. "I'm not prepared to subsidise a race in America.
"We've never got any sponsors out there and the television has never taken off -- we have more viewers in Malta than over there."
"We like racing in the US," Ferrari boss Jean Todt said. "Just to recall that Ferrari has its biggest market in the US -- one third of our cars are sold in this country, so for the visibility of Ferrari and Formula One we think it's important to do this race."
McLaren-Mercedes principal Norbert Haug echoed those sentiments.
"We are a German-American company officially and if I could, then I wish we could have at least two races in America," Haug said.
- REUTERS
Motorsport: F1 braced for uncertain return to US
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