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

[nevill3]

The main reason the result should be rolled back to the last racing lap is Mercedes know the rules and based their decision on not pitting Lewis on them.

They knew that if the lapped cars were allowed to correctly unlap themselves and then the safety car comes in at the end of the next lap after the last lapped car has passed the race would finish behind the safety car. Lewis would win.

If the lapped cars were not allowed to unlap themselves then there would be 5 cars between Lewis and Max and Lewis would probably have held out to win.

What happened was neither of these scenarios but a totally fabricated restart that was against the rules that no team would have expected and so could not base their racing decisions on it happening. To say that only allowing the five cars between the leaders had no baring on the result is incorrect.
Mercedes have every right to appeal the result

[BlueCheetah66]

Preface to this, I am a Verstappen fan and I am ecstatic with the win.

But

For 2022, there need to be serious reforms to the Race Director/Stewarding structure. I'd be very surprised if Masi makes it out of the season. I also think they should ban teams talking to the Race Director. Maybe make it so they can only speak when asked to. I think there also should be a consistent race steward, probably voted on by the teams. And finally they need a strong and fair penalty structure

[pantherxxx]

48.12 does not apply to this situation (since “lapped cars may now overtake” was never sent), check 48.8a instead which says specific drivers can be signaled to pass.
Verstappen won, case closed.

[max_speed]

Meltdown as predicted meltdown but does not matter. Champion has been crowned , better luck next time.
Toto has balls to say do not bring safety. Fia acts in their favour on lap 1 and no.mention of that since when lap cars are not allowed to unlap. I have been watching F1 for 15 years as well. I respect lewis as racer but not Merc and Toto. I feel sorry for lewis but not for merc and Toto. I have no respect for FIA left.

[Restomaniac]

The main reason the result should be rolled back to the last racing lap is Mercedes know the rules and based their decision on not pitting Lewis on them.

They knew that if the lapped cars were allowed to correctly unlap themselves and then the safety car comes in at the end of the next lap after the last lapped car has passed the race would finish behind the safety car. Lewis would win.

If the lapped cars were not allowed to unlap themselves then there would be 5 cars between Lewis and Max and Lewis would probably have held out to win.

What happened was neither of these scenarios but a totally fabricated restart that was against the rules that no team would have expected and so could not base their racing decisions on it happening. To say that only allowing the five cars between the leaders had no baring on the result is incorrect.

Mercedes have every right to appeal the result and should win, but this is the FIA so who knows what will happen.

If I’m Mercedes I’m telling the FIA they have 2 choices.
Either call the result under the safety car or get dragged through embarrassing court cases only to then be told to do it anyway.

[renault rs26]

An overtake under SC, is a position gained. Did Max gain position under SC? No. Has that happened in the past where under safety car, the car ahead and behind are side by side, or nose ahead of car behind? Yes. DId the leader not start in his position when it was a go? Yes he did.

that's now what the rules say.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files ... -12-08.pdf

48.8

With the exception of the cases listed under a) to h) below, no driver may overtake another car
on the track, including the safety car, until he passes the Line (see Article 5.3) for the first time
after the safety car has returned to the pits.

The question then becomes what constitutes an "overtake"? Technically, putting your wing in front DOES constitute an overtake...but under SC conditions? esp. if you give it back after 1 second?

I think this season has made it very clear that there is far too much ambiguity in the regulations -- even blac-and-white rules, let alone sporting reg/driving behavior rules

When they count overtakes in a race they mean overtake is when driver gain a postion and keep it until the next lap.

[McL-H]

I pity those who think what happened today was acceptable, what we're seeing is the Netflixisation of F1 purely manufactured entertainment rather than racing to the limit. I've been watching F1 for over 40 years and my gut reaction is that I'm done with this.

I feel for the engineers who work tirelessly to shave tiny fractions of seconds of the lap time of their car when this happens. Merc in the hands of Hamilton was the class of the field today an imperious display that was reduced to a lottery by weak or incompetent race direction.

I thought Lewis's class and his dad's showed through, if I were in that position I don't think I would've been able to behave with such dignity.

'Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?' - John Joseph Lydon Esq.

I agree. Today was a bad day for Formula One. The way the Hamilton’s kept their heads up after what happened earns my utmost respect.

I believe both Max and Lewis performed great all year. Either one deserved the title. But it all came down to today. And today, Hamilton deserved it more.

However, I do not want this championship seeing decided in the stewards room. The FIA and Masi in particular messed it up. But Max is champion now. Enough!

[Zynerji]

Congratulations to Max!

Jagged pill for Lewis.

Should have red flagged the moment Latifi hit the wall, and given us a fresh tyre standing start for a 4 lap heart- stopping finish.

Alas, an asterisk now in most minds on the greatest season of all time.

[dans79]

48.12 does not apply to this situation (since “lapped cars may now overtake” was never sent), check 48.8a instead which says specific drivers can be signaled to pass.
Verstappen won, case closed.

umm, no thats not what 48.8 means:

If a driver is signalled to do so from the safety car.

None of them were singled by the safety car. that rules is about someone pulling up next to the safety car, and the safety car waving them by!

[214270]

Headed to Arbitration.

[DChemTech]

Max had no business being next to Lewis on the restart. Quite frankly, Lewis was compromised on “doing his thing”. If you put your car side by side, fair enough, but then the penalty is clear if you get ahead?

At the time of restart lewis was well ahead and any 'overtake' was inconsequential. But the whole procedure was such a load of bull.

Next year they should have a more consistent rulebook, on and off track...

[nevill3]

48.12 does not apply to this situation (since “lapped cars may now overtake” was never sent), check 48.8a instead which says specific drivers can be signaled to pass.
Verstappen won, case closed.

But the safety car should have come in after the next lap after they had passed, that would have been the final lap

[sushantasapkota1]

48.12 does not apply to this situation (since “lapped cars may now overtake” was never sent), check 48.8a instead which says specific drivers can be signaled to pass.
Verstappen won, case closed.

But the safety car should have come in after the next lap after they had passed, that would have been the final lap

I saw safety car even on the race track.

[Redragon]

Would be anyone happy if without the last lap outcome Redbull would have made a complain about first incident and try to win the race after?
They could fill a complain and review of the rules now too if Mercedes complain is granted.

I would leave it as it is, it was great way to finish as viewer. Something I would change in the future regarding of SC is not counting the SC laps on the last 20 laps of the grand prix, so it would give everyone the same changes.

[pantherxxx]

Since the specific message "LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE" wasn't sent to the teams but instead a message saying that specific cars can over take, this rule likely doesn't actually apply, and so the safety car did not need to wait until the end of the following lap to come in.

That combined with 15.3 which states:

The clerk of the course shall work in permanent consultation with the Race Director. The Race Director shall have overriding authority in the following matters and the clerk of the course may give orders in respect of them only with his express agreement:

e) The use of the safety car.

As unfair as it may seem, in my opinion, Masi technically didn't break any rules with regards to only letting a few cars unlap themselves, and not waiting an extra lap to bring in the SC.