I don't see what's wrong with Michelin asking their drivers to "take it easy" in one turn of a 13 turn track. It's called adapting to certain race conditions. Nascar Cup and Truck drivers have had to do it all year. Granted they are not limited to one set of tires after practice, to run a whole race (which I find to be really stupid), but Goodyear has seen alot of different problems this year.
Mostly all season, at every track, these guys have been blowing right side tires like there was no tomorrow. The teams new it was because of the soft compounds that they asked Goodyear to use when making the tires for this season. So the teams have told their drivers to hold back a little. Dodges have really had a had time this year, because they cannot seem to find a good balance for their cars. So, the Dodge teams cannot run with most the others. Or when they do, they cannot stay with them for long.
So right side tires, for the Cup cars, has been all the rage this year. Then, along comes Pocono, which just took everybody by surprise. Ricky Rudd, who drives a Ford, blew 5 left fronts. After the first two or three, they figured out that it was the rumble strips in the corners that was killing the sidewalls of the tires. Other teams had similar problems with this as well. It was because they were running so much positive camber in the left front, the tires were overheating down the straightaways. When the tires would hit the rumble strips at this temp, the cords would snap at the sidewall of the tire. So, every had to back off and stay off the rumble strips. After it was all said and done, 20 left fronts were blowen!
Then there was this weeks race, at MIS. The fastest lap of the race was almost 3 seconds slower than the pole. These guys knew that their tires will not hold up for long, so they back off and take it easy. That way, the tires will at least last for 30 or 40 laps and not end up in the wall.
So I don't see how there is a problem with teams holding back, alittle, for the sake of safety. I understand that these teams new they would not have a chance against any other car running the Bridgestones, but still.
Oh well, I guess it's the NASCAR mentality that I have that keeps me from understanding this whole thing. NASCAR mentality being, "Run the best you can with what you have and never give up!" Because at the end of the day, if it was the tires that keep any of those teams from being compitive, all they had to do was respond, "Yes, we gave it all we had, but were limited because of the tire choice Michelin made for this years race. We will get them next year!", when they were asked if that were the case.
And as for the throwing of things onto the track... sure, noone likes to see stuff like that. But all I have to say is that the FIA and Indy better be glad they don't serve bottles at the race track.
