Six Michelin teams to appeal against FIA ruling

Championship leaders Renault and five other Formula One teams have vowed to appeal after being found guilty on two charges resulting from the US Grand Prix tyre fiasco.

A joint statement by Renault, McLaren, Williams, Toyota, Sauber and BAR, who all use Michelin tyres, expressed disappointment at the verdict of the International Automobile Federation's (FIA) world motor sport council on Wednesday.

Red Bull, the seventh Michelin team, said they were considering their options.

"Basically, we didn't want to rush into a hasty decision," team boss Christian Horner told Reuters.

The seven were charged with acts prejudicial to an event and to the sport after failing to start the June 19 race in Indianapolis when Michelin advised that they could not guarantee the safety of their tyres through the final banked corner.

The FIA cleared the teams on three specific charges on Wednesday but found them guilty of two.

It said they had failed to ensure they were in possession of suitable tyres for the event and had wrongfully refused to allow their cars to start the race bearing in mind that they could have used the pitlane on each lap.

The six teams said they had "reasonably relied" on Michelin and could not be held responsible for what occurred. They said the second charge was not one originally levelled against them.

"The teams explained to the world motor sport council that, in the light of the clear and written advice from Michelin that it was unsafe to race at Indianapolis on the tyres supplied by that company, the teams had no choice but to decline to race," they said in a statement.

"Any other decision would have been irresponsible. Nineteen of the current Formula One drivers have expressed their agreement with the decision of the teams."

No names were given and the teams did not identify the lone dissenting driver.