Yesterday's "race" was a sad event in the history of Formula 1. I'll try to skip the "laying blame" phase and try to see the larger point of view.
Fact is that Michelin did not guarantee the safety of the tires that were to be used. Fact is that all rules where followed to the letter - by the FIA, by the Bridgestone teams and ultimately by the Michelin teams as well: they did not use a different type of tire, nor did they change their tires at will. Fact is also that a race with six cars is horribly boring - if it can be called a race indeed. Procession or demonstration was more the word for it. If only at least the two Ferrari cars had raced each other. But I digress.
What is deeply saddening is that the collective body of the ten teams and the FIA did not manage to come to an agreement on how to handle the situation. The Michelin teams might have raced a different type of tire without scoring points. I think that's the most obvious alternative, but there are a number of others too: a chicane in turn 13, unlimited tire changing, ... The ten teams are apparently strongly divided, and the result is a race that did in my opinion serious damage to the sport. What the ten teams failed to do was not "complying with the rules" - they all did comply. What they failed to do was make the best of a bad situation. It's ironic that this should happen in the USA, where Formula 1 traditionally has had difficulties to gain ground. Yesterday's race will do little to endear F1 with the American motor sport fans.
Ultimately, the fans are those who paid the price for the teams' inability to handle the situation gracefully. The fans where the victims who were mistreated to a six car procession.
The only good thing about it all was that Niki Lauda and Heinz Prüller gave a sort of "double conference" that was just dripping with sarcasm. It gave me a good laugh to cheer up the sad events.