2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina, Dec 10 - 12

[Tom145145]

In my view if the lapped cars had been left it would have been a fair fight, that was the compromise. Otherwise if you let all the cars through it would have been ended under the safety car. This is like a hybrid of the rule that only helped RB. I can congratulate Max on an amazing season he is worthy but Massi is not and I doubt he will be in the job for long.

[djones]

As per the Twitter post above, they literally did not follow the rules.

How can a protest not be upheld?

Seriously I mean... what could they use to get around not following rules?

[adrianjordan]

Media calls Max a Dutchman, But calling lewis a blacman is problematic?

Dutch is nationality, black is skin colour/race.

The 2 are not the same.

Now if you were to suggest there was a problem calling Lewis British, that would be a better, though equally moronic, question.

[oT v1]

I do think Mercedes is going to raise enough stink behind closed doors that they’ll offer Massi’s head on a plate and get rid of him.

Agreed, I don’t think this will go to court but Massi is gone.

The race had enough for the show, it had a lot, you don’t need to change the rules just because Latifi binned it ‘a lap too early’.

[kaller]

I do think Mercedes is going to raise enough stink behind closed doors that they’ll offer Massi’s head on a plate and get rid of him.

Hopefully. The inconcistency of Massi is outrageous even for FIA's standards - as evident by both RB and Merc complaining about him and nobody trusting his decisions.

[Stu]

The fact they abandoned protocol to essentially engineer a Verstappen win is extraordinary. Mercedes won’t get anywhere but yes they should protest. But it’s not Red Bull’s fault the FIA sent them the title on a plate.

It’s beyond luck.

I can totally see your point, but the only other option for the race director was to keep the safety car out until the end (which would have equally been considered an engineered result). I just wonder whether had Mercedes have handed the place back on lap one (personally, I see no difference between that incident and the one last week after the first restart - MV had to give the place back), whether they would have held the same tactical advantage during the VSC period. LH would be champion now.

[Bill_Kar]

Even if the rules were not followed, absolutely nothing will be gained from it. JUST IMAGINE the backlash if a decision is made, it will absolutely destroy the sport. I think everyone in the FIA hierarchy will be playing hush hush as this would destroy everything, not to mention how red bull would be robbed. They shouldn't be punished due to the incompetency of the rule makers. They will protest, but nothing will come of it.

Mate, the sport is already broken.

Anyone who is a true F1 fan, was disgusted today. And it wasn't something subtle, backmarkers overtaking the SC and bunching up has always happened and it always will, unless we have a situation like today.

I get it though. Some fans just want the drama, not true racing. They govern the sport now, thanks to Liberty and Masi. The Americanization of the sport is complete now.

Call me sour, I don't care to be honest. But the value of F1 has taken a big hit.

[cooken]

So two blatantly obvious hacks then:
1. Only the cars between Max and Lewis were allowed to overtake, and
2. Per the article the safety car should have only come in on the following lap.

Not to mention the mixed messages, lapped cars will not overtake.... Oh until RB complain and then yes of course they will.

[siskue2005]

A red flag would have been ideal
But I was sure that if Lewis had pitted and Max not pitted then this would have been red flagged like Jeddha!
It was not going to work out for Merc either way.
But what a mockery of the rules!

[adrianjordan]

Merc should protest the result, but only to prompt a clean up of the rules for next season.

[El Scorchio]

In my view if the lapped cars had been left it would have been a fair fight, that was the compromise. Otherwise if you let all the cars through it would have been ended under the safety car. This is like a hybrid of the rule that only helped RB. I can congratulate Max on an amazing season he is worthy but Massi is not and I doubt he will be in the job for long.

Exactly. It’ll be fudged and all that will happen is Masi is finally fired. That imbecile has messed up this sport for far too long already.

It would be really unfair on Verstappen to take the title away from him, but the manner in which it was won was completely unjust.

[isullivan]

Massi giveth, Massi taketh away

[Tizz]

They have been messing with the rules all year as has been discussed in each and every racetopic. Not only with Hammi and Max but also regarding all other driver in the field. Not being able to just congratulate Max without all the buts and ifs is really mental poverty. Lewis could. Shame on you.

[falonso81]

Ferrari fan here. Happy for Carlos podium and happy that someone else won the title besides Hamilton. To me, everyone here has the wrong idea about Michael Masi. He is not the right guy for this job, not because he is incompetent, but because he is too soft of a character. He tries to please both Horner and Wolf and somehow tries to fix a mistake by making another one. Someone really high (or maybe Masi reconsidered) must have given the order for lapped cars to go by, because it would have robbed everyone of the battle between Max and Lewis if they didn't.

My guess about not all cars going by, is that the call came at the very last moment, almost the same time the SC ending was announced, so not everyone got the chance to unlap themselves or else they would have interfered with the front runners. The blame ultimately lies with the FIA, and if a protest from Mercedes goes through and reverse the outcome, it would mean the end for F1.

[oT v1]

The fact they abandoned protocol to essentially engineer a Verstappen win is extraordinary. Mercedes won’t get anywhere but yes they should protest. But it’s not Red Bull’s fault the FIA sent them the title on a plate.

It’s beyond luck.

I can totally see your point, but the only other option for the race director was to keep the safety car out until the end (which would have equally been considered an engineered result). I just wonder whether had Mercedes have handed the place back on lap one (personally, I see no difference between that incident and the one last week after the first restart - MV had to give the place back), whether they would have held the same tactical advantage during the VSC period. LH would be champion now.

It’s not engineered, it’s the usual and agreed protocol after Latifi crashed. It just wasn’t the ending they wanted. So they changed it.

Spa