The remaining fourteen entrants, all using Michelin tyres, completed the formation lap, but retired to the pit lane before the race started.

[6] The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the sport's governing body, refused a compromise proposal from Michelin to allow a chicane to be installed, maintaining that such rule changes would be grossly unfair to the Bridgestone-shod teams, who had come prepared with properly working tyres, and that a last-minute change to the track layout would be dangerous in case of crashes.

[13] During the session, each competitor recorded one timed lap with the running sequence set by the results of the previous Grand Prix reversed.

Alonso qualified in sixth, while the rest of the top ten consisted of Rubens Barrichello, Takuma Sato, Mark Webber, and Felipe Massa.

[13] During the afternoon's practice session on June 17, 2005, Ralf Schumacher, driving for Toyota, crashed badly in Turn 13 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, as a result of a left-rear tyre failure.

He was unable to continue racing, and was replaced for the rest of the weekend by the team's test driver, Ricardo Zonta, who himself suffered a left-rear tyre failure during practice as well.

[16][17] Schumacher had crashed in the same spot as a result of a tyre failure the previous year, while driving for the Williams team, which led to a broken back.

[20] The replacement tyres flown in, which were of the type used in the Spanish Grand Prix earlier that year, turned out to have the same problem when tested.

[23] In a second letter, also dated June 18, Dupasquier and Shorrock confirmed that they would not permit their teams to race on the Michelin tyres used during qualification without changes to the circuit, and reiterated their request to slow down Turn 13.

[24] Paul Stoddart, the owner of Minardi, a team using Bridgestone tyres, published an account on June 22, of the events leading up to the race.

They likewise dismissed the possibility of making pit stops every ten laps, resolved that a chicane was the best solution, and instructed several technical representatives to prepare plans for its installation.

[25] Furthermore, Ecclestone reported that Mosley had "stated that if any attempts were made to alter the circuit, he would cancel the Grand Prix forthwith".

[26] After a short break, the group gathered again in Ecclestone's office to find Renault team principal Flavio Briatore on the phone with Max Mosley.

[21] On the same day that Stoddart's version of events was published, the FIA issued a statement denying that Mosley had made the reported threat, or that any such conversation had taken place.

[27] Having exhausted their options, the Michelin team principals, Stoddart, and Bernie Ecclestone – but not Jordan's Colin Kolles – discussed whether their cars should proceed to the grid, and decided that they should participate in the formation lap but that they could not race.

[32][33] Thousands of fans were reported to have gone to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ticket office to demand refunds, and police were called to keep the peace.

[39][page needed] At the podium ceremony, at which none of the scheduled dignitaries were present, all Ferrari team members quietly accepted their awards, and quickly exited.

[22] Associated Press writer Stephen Wade pointed to the boycott as an extension of previous disagreements between the teams and Max Mosley, which had led to the threatened creation of a rival series as an alternative to Formula One.

[46] The Guardian's Richard Williams considered the prior disputes a factor in the failure to reach a compromise and felt that the events at this race had increased the risk of a complete rupture.

[48] In his later lengthier statement, he indicated that although it had been Michelin's failure to provide a reliable tyre which had initiated the events, he laid the full blame for the failure to reach some accommodation (which would have allowed a race to happen, for the benefit of the many fans who had paid considerable money for travel and tickets) to Mosley and the FIA, with a small share of the blame going to what he characterized as the obstructionist Ferrari team leader, Jean Todt.

[50] The FIA also summoned the seven Michelin-shod teams before the World Motor Sport Council at their headquarters in France, for a hearing on June 29, to explain their failure to participate, by which they had presumably violated the terms of the Concorde Agreement.

[52] They were charged with violating article 151c of the International Sporting Code, which refers to "acts prejudicial to the interests of competition or motorsport generally".

[54] In it, Mosley drew an analogy to a hypothetical situation where the engines from one manufacturer had oil starvation problems due to high lateral loading in one corner, and pointed out that those cars would simply have been forced to run slower as a result.

[55] On June 29, the FIA World Motor Sport Council found the teams guilty of not being in possession of suitable tyres, "but with strong mitigating circumstances", and failure to allow their cars to start the race.

[56] On July 22, the FIA World Motor Sport Council voted to overturn its previous decision, and exonerated the Michelin teams of all charges.

[57] According to BBC Sport, Dennis and Red Bull principal Christian Horner told Mosley and the FIA Senate that Indiana state law left the Michelin teams no option but to pull out of the race.

[7] Horner later stated in an interview that whilst it was "incredibly difficult" pulling out of the race, "there were things going on that were bigger than the sport that day".

[63] These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race,[13][64][40] with the exception of Ricardo Zonta, who replaced Ralf Schumacher after his practice accident.