And I Thought Federal Courts Moved Slowly

The verdict is in, at least as far as FIA is concerned, in the USGP fiasco. The guilty parties, apparently, are the seven teams that run on Michelin tires, but not the manufacturer itself. All seven teams were found guilty of "failing to provide suitable tires and wrongfully refusing to allow their cars to start." Apparently, the FIA can't go straight out and get Michelin because the French company does not have a contractual relationship with FIA (like the teams do) which was violated. Still, it seems awfully harsh to penalize the teams for taking the safe route out of a bad situation that was not of their making. Oddly, the punishment won't be announced until September. In our district it only takes about 60 days to get sentenced after guilt is established. The teams, of course, plan on appealing.