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It's June 19, 2005.

Race day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Inside a plush motorhome in the paddock, Formula One supremo Bernie Eccleston sits in a leather chair, watching a television mounted on the wall.

Outside, more than 100,000 fans pack the grandstands for the United States Grand Prix.

The cars circle the circuit on their formation or warm-up lap.

The atmosphere is electric.

But Eccleston knows something the fans don't.

This race is about to become one of the strangest spectacles in motorsport history.

For the last three days, Formula One has been in chaos.

Emergency meetings, heated arguments, last minute negotiations behind closed doors, all over a single component, tires.

Teams running on Michelins discovered something terrifying during practice.

The high-speed final corner is simply too much for the tires to handle.

Cars return to the pits with the rubber shredded after just a few laps.