FIA The FIA admits the controversy at the Abu Dhabi GP is “tarnishing the image of the Championship”

[F1Brits_90]

It’s not about Wolff or Horner as Michael Masi betrayed the public trust, and thereby destroying the credibility of the FIA & F1. The only solution is a organizational restructuring of the Race Director’s responsibilities.

so your happy with how red bull & mercedes behaved. because for me their behaviour was far more disgraceful. i was embarassed that when our sport was shown to the world that we had senior people acting like children, thinking of themselves

'Fans' would have been furious, people who actually watched F1 from before drive to survive would've shrugged and gone "thems the breaks with the rules"

are these the same fans that complain about damp squibs, when the race finishes under safety car

 

[gethinceri]

when did an f1 race last finish under a safety car, how much “noise” resulted from fans and did the Race Director decide to make that happen by creating his own interpretation of the rules?

 

[sobriety]

Did Spa finish under SC? The only complaints I heard about that was that it never should have started, and that it was only done to ensure that they 1) got paid and 2) didn't have to refund trackside fans.

 

[F1Brits_90]

when did an f1 race last finish under a safety car, how much “noise” resulted from fans and did the Race Director decide to make that happen by creating his own interpretation of the rules?

1999 Canadian GP, 2009 Australian GP​

2009 Italian GP, 2010 Monaco GP​

2012 Brazilian GP, 2014 Canadian GP​

2015 Chinese GP, 2019 Bahrain GP​

2020 Bahrain GP​

Masi made a mistake, that even he wont deny. but to make him a scapegoat is wrong because their is many factors. that the teams have gotten away just as Zak Brown the McLaren CEO said.

The year ahead

The year ahead

www.mclaren.com

in particular in bold, as i posted here. they were told on the Friday briefing, they will do their best to make sure this championship finishes under green. so Mercedes not pitting is absolutely mental

But at times it has seemed the sport is governed by certain teams. Let us not forget that we, the teams, have contributed to the inconsistencies in the policing of the regulations as much as anyone. It is the teams who applied the pressure to avoid finishing races under a Safety Car at all costs. It is the teams who voted for many of the regulations they have complained about. It is the teams who have been using the broadcasting of radio messages to the race director to try to influence penalties and race outcomes, to the point where an over-excited team principal plays to the gallery and pressurises race officials. This has not been edifying for F1. At times it’s felt like a pantomime audition rather than the pinnacle of a global sport.

 

[gethinceri]

But you completely miss my point (yawn).
Each of those was due to a safety car period in the last few laps of the race when there was no possibility in completing the race in any other way.
Masi could have allowed the race to finish under the safety car, completely justifiably. He could have called the safety car in without directing lapped cars to overtake, completely justifiably.
He could have directed lapped cars to overtake then called the safety car in, allowing the race to finish as a race, providing all lapped cars were clear of an appropriate point of the lap, completely justifiably.
He didn’t, he chose to **** it up.

 

[F1Brits_90]

gethinceri masi could have allowed the race to finish under the safety car, as has been proven the race would never have restarted we had got all of them unlapped.

yes but we all are naive if we think that wouldve been less controversial. because firstly we all know the story wouldve been "what an anti climax". "what a dull way to end to a great championship".
then 2nd one wouldve been under attack by team bosses.
"we were promised on friday that this race wouldnt finish under a safety car & he went against that agreement"
"the stewards were too slow"
"there mustve been some way to finish the GP under green"

He could have called the safety car in without directing lapped cars to overtake, completely justifiably.

but then you got Red Bull down your throat as there is no recent precident for that either, & then your conspiracy theories that they gave Hamilton a shield & it was impossible for Verstappen to overtake 5 cars to even get to Lewis. they didnt want max to win the title.

its sad but every way i look it someone wouldve angry as there was no pleasing anyone. i think lewis did the best thing, get away from it all & draw a line under everything, as none of this anger is going to change history

 

[P1]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1488189394871795716

**** him. He deserves every bit of it and quite frankly I would not shed a tear if he throws himself on the train tracks.

 

[Johnny Carwash]

F1Brits_90 you forgot to add 2021 Belgium. Which finished under the safety car so they wouldn’t have to compensate the fans.
I see that it’s Mercedes fault for not pitting. The reason that Mercedes’s didn’t pit as there strategy was based on the rules been adhered to by the race director. Also the way that Michael Masi applied his own rules for the last lap, only Max Verstappen benefited from it, not the other 19 drivers. Why wasn’t Sainz allowed to have a go at Verstappen, it was because he had lapped cars between himself and Verstappen. The fact is if Masi is sacked, it de-legitimises the championship. If he stay’s then the race regulations aren’t worth the paper they are written on, and all decisions will be on the whim the RD.

 

[The Artist.....]

Johnny Carwash - Mercedes were naive at best. Earlier in the thread, I gave an analysis of safety car periods. If Abu Dhabi had the average safety car period (4 laps), then there would have been 1 lap of racing.

Mercedes gambled on it being a longer than average safety car, but unfortunately for them, it wasn’t.

 

[sobriety]

Which would have been fine if the RD hadn't started rewriting rules on the fly to ensure that there wasn't a longer safety car period.

 

[The Artist.....]

sobriety - but there’s two things people claim.

1. Mercedes didn’t pit as they ”knew”, if the rules were followed, the race would finish behind the safety car
2. MasI manipulated the result for Red Bull, as he knew that they would be able to overtake.

1. is provably untrue (based on historic data), and only in hindsight can anyone make that accusation.

i think that what really happened was that Masi initially made the mistake of announcing that cars wouldn’t be allowed to overtake (in his haste to get things running). Had he instructed cars to overtake at that point, (as he could have done), then there would be no controversy. However, realising his mistake (and the impact it would have had on the championship, he tried to correct that mistake, in (what he thought) was the best way possible.

• Mercedes reacted in the heat of the moment, and decided not to pit Hamilton.
• Masi reacted in the heat of the moment to try to correct a mistake.

 

[The Artist.....]

What seems to be being ignored in all of this as well, is the lap 1 incident.

Derek Warwick was the driver steward that weekend, and before the race, he was being interviewed on radio 4 and talking about how good an example and how fair a driver Hamilton was, and that he hoped he won the 8th title.

If that view didn’t shape the decision not to penalise Hamilton for cutting the chicane on the first lap, I would be very surprised. Had there not been a safety car at the end, and that interview (with one of the refs on the day) been played out after the race, Red Bull (and their fans) would be calling fix.

It would be like a referee at the FA Cup final ( between, say, Manchester City and Chelsea) coming out ahead of the final talking about how Manchester City deserve to win, and that they engage in fair play, and then not awarding a penalty, when a City Player hacks down a Chelsea striker in the box.

 

[sobriety]

Merc made a gamble based upon what they thought would happen.

Masi screwed up and rewrote the rules on the fly, his initial decision was a least in line with the rules, his second one was not.

The stewarding has been terrible and biased forever - the way to sort that out is to tighten the rules and run it more like WEC "car xx is to have a drive through"

People will say "but that ruins the racing!!!" but you can't have it both ways, and currently the pendulum has swung to far into the "let the drivers do what they like zone", precisely because there are huge run offs for them to play with and zero penalty for failure - again done mostly to improve "the show" under the fig leaf of increasing driver safety.

 

[Hamberg]

sobriety - but there’s two things people claim.

1. Mercedes didn’t pit as they ”knew”, if the rules were followed, the race would finish behind the safety car
2. MasI manipulated the result for Red Bull, as he knew that they would be able to overtake.

1. is provably untrue (based on historic data), and only in hindsight can anyone make that accusation.

1. That’s not true. They pit, Verstappen takes the lead, they end up behind lapped drivers.

There wasn’t a choice.

I’m sorry but people make mistakes all the time and there are consequences to the serious ones. That lorry driver on hands free who ploughed into minibus made a mistake, but he’s serving an eight year sentence.
My ex colleague who made a decision beyond his remit admitted it was a mistake and said sorry/cried but he was dismissed and marched off the premises.

Massi was in a position of great responsibility. He could have ‘put the phone down’. He could have followed the well established rules.
He didn’t and it’s had very bad consequences for the reputation of F1 and caused heartache for drivers and fans.
He doesn’t get to say sorry I made a mistake (wouldn’t that be nice though!) and all is forgiven. Things don’t work like.

 

[F1Brits_90]

F1Brits_90 you forgot to add 2021 Belgium. Which finished under the safety car so they wouldn’t have to compensate the fans.
I see that it’s Mercedes fault for not pitting. The reason that Mercedes’s didn’t pit as there strategy was based on the rules been adhered to by the race director. Also the way that Michael Masi applied his own rules for the last lap, only Max Verstappen benefited from it, not the other 19 drivers. Why wasn’t Sainz allowed to have a go at Verstappen, it was because he had lapped cars between himself and Verstappen. The fact is if Masi is sacked, it de-legitimises the championship. If he stay’s then the race regulations aren’t worth the paper they are written on, and all decisions will be on the whim the RD.

oh yeah i try to forget 2021 Belgium as much as i can

i would say that The Artist..... is there

• he was trying to get the race underway too quickly,
• Panicked realise his error & the conspiracy theories he was opening himself upto.
• then got himself in a mess. & realised with his mistake
• the pitwall interruption because mercedes thought they were going get out of jail from their mistake
• that he'd taken so long this race was going to finish under safety car, which he told the teams wouldnt happen
• took a shortcut to get him out of a hole

it was perfect storm because mercedes didnt think clearly played it safe, thinking its only 1 lap & hamilton panicked thinking that he could take him down the back straight forgetting no DRS so did the cardinal sin of giving him the outside, because Bottas was horrendous in that race, red bull got lucky that they had a free shot because they had nothing to lose

also i guess if they decide they want a fresh start going into 2022, new rules, crackdown on pitwall interfering then michael masi would have to step down. but i think the abuse he got has gone overboard

 

[Il_leone]

The abuse aimed at Masi has got to stop now. It can't be as bad as Latifi who Red Bull jokingly said helped them those w***kers don't even have the decency to apologise and admit they were only joking

Masi screwed up but the FIA aint helping not bringing closure to the situation either ..he does need to go because I don't think the FIA can risk damaging their credibility further and putting their reputation at risk

Masi looking at it is the legacy of Jean Todt's presidency - " Get involved in F1 as little as possible attitude!" hence he has put in this position

Unfortunately Masi will be sacrificial lamb but he failed to understand the magnitude of some of his decisions throughout the season showed lack of assertiveness and authority. I agree with Zak Brown that his ear is being bended too much by both Red Bull and Mercedes but I do not think it helps when the chances to punish more severely was there in the case of some of Verstappen's driving which left the stewards not really want to intervene in the last race so allows them to get away all the time

Lap 1 incident - Verstappen came from a long way and Hamilton was already turning in as he sailed past but crucially did not complete the apex completely to be deemed a proper overtake. Hamilton taking the short cut was something Verstappen has done numerous times before so Hamilton was just returning the favour for the previous race and not giving the place back until the stewards says so

 

[gethinceri]

gethinceri masi could have allowed the race to finish under the safety car, as has been proven the race would never have restarted we had got all of them unlapped.

yes but we all are naive if we think that wouldve been less controversial. because firstly we all know the story wouldve been "what an anti climax". "what a dull way to end to a great championship".
then 2nd one wouldve been under attack by team bosses.
"we were promised on friday that this race wouldnt finish under a safety car & he went against that agreement"
"the stewards were too slow"
"there mustve been some way to finish the GP under green"


but then you got Red Bull down your throat as there is no recent precident for that either, & then your conspiracy theories that they gave Hamilton a shield & it was impossible for Verstappen to overtake 5 cars to even get to Lewis. they didnt want max to win the title.

its sad but every way i look it someone wouldve angry as there was no pleasing anyone. i think lewis did the best thing, get away from it all & draw a line under everything, as none of this anger is going to change history

i won’t comment any further, a discussion too often turns into an argument.

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Nice bit of ink there

 

[F1Brits_90]

Nice bit of ink there
View attachment 15283

is just Horner that got latifi on the maple leaf

 

[Hamberg]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1491184614345707520