Race and classic pictures

Six cars on the grid

Remember this moment? It's the cars lining up on the grid for the start of the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on June 19, 2005.

And by that we mean it's the entire grid for the race: all the teams that were using Michelin tyres that weekend had just pulled off into the pit lane at the end of the formation lap, leaving just the six cars from teams using Bridgestone tyres (Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi) to take part. Spectators at IMS and around the world watched with derision as the six drivers duly completed 73 laps of the 2.6-mile road course, and Michael Schumacher coasted to what must have been the easiest win of his career.

The cause of the upset was the surface of the high-speed speedway corner which had been causing Michelin tyres to fail during practice and qualifying. The French manufacturer said they couldn't guarantee the tyres beyond 10 laps on this harsh and abrasive surface, but at the time the FIA wouldn't allow in-race tyre changes.

In protest, and on safety grounds, Michelin instructed all the teams to pit after the formation lap - and they duly did so, leaving this scene on the grid. Not one of Formula One's best moments.

"I paid $85 for three-day ticket," one fan told the media afterwards. "I travelled nine hours from Baltimore to be here. Indy cars wouldn't do this. NASCAR wouldn't do this. I'll never attend a race again - only watch on TV."

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.