THE seven teams that boycotted the US Grand Prix could be forced to pay millions in compensation to the 120,000 fans who walked out of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway here, shocked and angry with a sport that has been decried throughout the United States. The repercussions of the explosion of disgust at a debacle of a race, in which only six cars took part, will ripple through Formula One for months.

The punishments could start next week, when all seven teams and Michelin, their tyre supplier at the centre of the farce, will be called in front of the FIA, Formula One’s governing body, on charges that amount to bringing the sport into disrepute. Banning the teams is not an option, given that future races would be wrecked with 14 cars out of the sport, but Max Mosley, the FIA President, raised the possibility yesterday that the teams could be forced to pay back the fans, many of whom had spent hundreds of pounds on travel and hotels, as well as an average $100 a ticket (£54) to get into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I think Michelin and the seven teams should compensate the fans,” Mosley said. “What about the American fans? What about Formula One fans worldwide? Rather than boycott the race, the Michelin teams should have agreed to run at reduced speed. The rules would have been kept, they would have earned championship points and the fans would have had a race. As it is, by refusing to run, they have damaged themselves and the sport.”

There seems little doubt that the punishment will fit the crimes, and the crimes as detailed in charges laid by the FIA are as serious as any in the 56-year history of Formula One. The teams and Michelin have been summoned to a hearing in Paris on June 29, when they will be accused under Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

Seen exclusively by The Times, the charges include: wrongfully refusing to allow cars to start the race; wrongfully refusing to allow cars to race, subject to a speed restriction in one corner which was safe for the tyres they had available; and combining to make a demonstration damaging to the image of Formula One by putting into the pits immediately before the start of the race.

At the heart of Sunday’s mess were two sides unable to compromise. The teams, saddled with tyres Michelin decided were unsafe, wanted measures to slow the race, particularly on the 180mph banked final turn of the circuit. They demanded a chicane that would slow cars into the turn and make the race safe. But Charlie Whiting, the FIA’s race director, said that he could not add a chicane that had not been tested, nor could he penalise the three teams — including Ferrari — on Bridgestone tyres that had no performance problems.

As Michael Schumacher, the eventual winner, pointed out: “We had a tyre that was faster but we knew it would not last the race. This was not our problem, it was their problem.”

However, Formula One’s inability to compromise and find a solution was laid hopelessly bare before a worldwide television audience. ITV1 had a prime-time slot before Coronation Street and was hoping for an audience of more than six million. As it was, James Allen and Martin Brundle had to commentate on a farce, astonishingly holding on to 4.4 million people.

But it seems highly unlikely that ITV, which has paid about £120 million for a five-year contract to televise Formula One, will let this pass. Even Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s promoter, was powerless to prevent Sunday’s boycott and he will have to answer to television companies worldwide that pay into the £500 million-a-year takings that go to his Formula One Management company.

Now the courts will once again decide who the finger of blame should be pointed at while the fans wait to see how Formula One will pay them back for such disgraceful treatment.

IN THE DOCK

The boycotting teams are charged with:

With other teams, making a demonstration damaging to the image of Formula One by putting into the pits immediately before the start of the race