Bookmakers are close to pulling the plug on Formula One betting following the farcical United States Grand Prix on Sunday.
Michael Schumacher claimed his first win of the season in bizarre circumstances at Indianapolis as the Ferrari driver was one of only six to line up at the start after 14 rivals pulled into the pits to retire after the warm-up lap.
Seven teams took that decision after Michelin advised against racing due to concerns about the safety of their tyres.
That left just six cars on the grid with both Ferraris quickly streaking clear of the two Minardis and Jordans, whose regular battle to avoid last place suddenly became a race for a podium.
Schumacher was able to cruise to victory, with the only worry coming when he almost collided with team-mate Rubens Barrichello coming out of the pits.
The fans who bothered to stay in their seats were treated to a parade, with Schumacher winning by 1.5 seconds from Barrichello.
Tiago Monteiro scored an unlikely podium finish with third place for Jordan, their first since 2003.
His team-mate Narain Karthikeyan was fourth to become the first Indian driver to score points.
Minardi claimed their first points for exactly a year with Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher finishing fifth and sixth.
It left not only the fans fuming but also the bookmakers, with online firm Centrebet reporting it lost more than $100,000 as a result of the farcical six-car contest.
Their spokesman Gerard Daffy said: "Punters backed Michael Schumacher (15/4) to win the race, Tiago Monteiro (330/1) to make the podium and the four Jordan and Minardi drivers (each was 33/1) to pick up championship points.
"One more Formula One farce and bookmakers will stop betting on the sport," he added. "Bookies have long memories and we have not forgotten about Austria in 2002 (when team orders saw Schumacher pip Barrichello)."
The result led to a real headache for the firms in terms of how to settle their markets.
There was good news for punters when bet365 and Skybet were among the first to announce that they will pay out on the final result but void bets on the 14 drivers who didn't start the race.
However Sporting Odds were one of several companies who treated all drivers as having raced.
They were adhering to their rules which stated: "Individual Grand Prix Betting: Bets stand even if the competitor does not compete.
"The race will have been deemed to have started after the signal to commence the warm up lap."
Michael Schumacher claimed his first win of the season in bizarre circumstances at Indianapolis as the Ferrari driver was one of only six to line up at the start after 14 rivals pulled into the pits to retire after the warm-up lap.
Seven teams took that decision after Michelin advised against racing due to concerns about the safety of their tyres.
That left just six cars on the grid with both Ferraris quickly streaking clear of the two Minardis and Jordans, whose regular battle to avoid last place suddenly became a race for a podium.
Schumacher was able to cruise to victory, with the only worry coming when he almost collided with team-mate Rubens Barrichello coming out of the pits.
The fans who bothered to stay in their seats were treated to a parade, with Schumacher winning by 1.5 seconds from Barrichello.
Tiago Monteiro scored an unlikely podium finish with third place for Jordan, their first since 2003.
His team-mate Narain Karthikeyan was fourth to become the first Indian driver to score points.
Minardi claimed their first points for exactly a year with Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher finishing fifth and sixth.
It left not only the fans fuming but also the bookmakers, with online firm Centrebet reporting it lost more than $100,000 as a result of the farcical six-car contest.
Their spokesman Gerard Daffy said: "Punters backed Michael Schumacher (15/4) to win the race, Tiago Monteiro (330/1) to make the podium and the four Jordan and Minardi drivers (each was 33/1) to pick up championship points.
"One more Formula One farce and bookmakers will stop betting on the sport," he added. "Bookies have long memories and we have not forgotten about Austria in 2002 (when team orders saw Schumacher pip Barrichello)."
The result led to a real headache for the firms in terms of how to settle their markets.
There was good news for punters when bet365 and Skybet were among the first to announce that they will pay out on the final result but void bets on the 14 drivers who didn't start the race.
However Sporting Odds were one of several companies who treated all drivers as having raced.
They were adhering to their rules which stated: "Individual Grand Prix Betting: Bets stand even if the competitor does not compete.
"The race will have been deemed to have started after the signal to commence the warm up lap."
