Indy starting grid will be moved

The start grid for the United States Grand Prix has been moved back one row because of safety concerns over the historic yard of bricks, the FIA has said

As Autosport.com reported yesterday, pole position will now be where third place on the grid used to be.

Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari team had expressed concerns that the historic bricks could prove dangerous when the cars are wheel spinning off the start and make the cars swerve uncontrollably because pole was only two feet from the bricks.

The bricks have not affected previous CART and NASCAR races because they have a rolling start, whereas F1 has a standing start.

"The entire starting grid was moved back last night after front-row starters Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard expressed concern about wheelspin at the start due to the yard of bricks at the start line," said FIA Safety Delegate Charlie Whiting.

Meanwhile, because of driver concerns that the entry to the pitlane is dangerous, the speed limiter will start 330 meters earlier while pit lane speeds have increased from 80km/h to 120km/h.

Some teams say that the Indianapolis pit lane is so long, pit tactics are almost redundant because teams cannot afford to make more than one stop.

The bricks are an historic reminder of the fact that the circuit was made entirely of bricks.