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

[Roo]

Time to go to court!
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files ... 048.12.pdf

Red Bull argued that
1. “Any” does not mean “all”.
2. The Article 48.13 of the Sporting Regulations states that the message “Safety Car in this
lap” is the signal that it will enter the pit lane at the end of that lap.
3. That therefore Article 48.13 “overrides” Article 48.12.
4. That Article 15.3 gives the Race Director “overriding authority” over “the use of the safety
car”.
5. That even if all cars that had been lapped (8 in total, of which 5 were allowed to overtake
the safety car) it would not have changed the outcome of the race.

Race Director’s Evidence
The Race Director stated that the purpose of Article 48.12 was to remove those lapped cars that
would “interfere” in the racing between the leaders and that in his view Article 48.13 was the one
that applied in this case.
The Race Director also stated that it had long been agreed by all the Teams that where possible
it was highly desirable for the race to end in a “green” condition (i.e. not under a Safety Car).

I think Masi has shot himself in the foot there. If he admitted he removed the cars inbetween as an intentional act so they didn’t interfere when everyone knew it left Hamilton a sitting duck then it’s race fixing. A good QC will eat them alive in court.

I agree: I cannot imagine how he’d defend such an indifferent use of the rules, and how he suddenly changed from the cars will stay, MV and Horner whinging, and then moving only some cars without manipulation.

Wdc for me is uncertain

[TwanV]

There are always two sides of a coin folks, this time it went verstappens way , next year lewis might come out on top in a similar toss. It's a sport, there are rules and interpretations, rigidity of rules might help in this instance and screw you over next time. So many arguable moments this year, let's call it a day and have a similar one next year. At least we won't lose Lewis due to too much success, I had a funny feeling he might have retired as octogod.

[Pany]

Sad to see Verstappen fans celebrating such a steal. Sickening to every fan of the sport...

Mercedes dominance for 8 years is not sporty too. Something has to be done

[pantherxxx]

Great decision by the FIA. Max fully deserved the win, and Toto is a sore loser.

[littlebigcat]

Someone just pointed something out to me that was actually quite an interesting point.

Verstappen was given a clear run at Hamiltion as a result of Masi's decision to allow the lapped cars between car 33 and 44 to overtake the SC. Carlos Sainz was not given the same opportunity, I believe he still had lapped cars between himself and Verstappen.

I think that really just shows how badly Masi screwed this up. Ultimately, the result should stand, as I don't think any WDC should be decided in a court room. However, I do think Masi should be replaced. He has made too many errors this year, it's simply not good enough.

I made this point earlier in the thread. Its was an implication that racing for 2nd doesn't matter. The evidence given is a confirmation of that. Disgraceful.

[Marty_Y]

I've got even more respect than ever for Lewis, he was a true gentleman and acted with class despite a ridiculously unfair shambles of a ending.

What's the point of rules if the rules aren't followed.

[Restomaniac]

There are always two sides of a coin folks, this time it went verstappens way , next year lewis might come out on top in a similar toss. It's a sport, there are rules and interpretations, rigidity of rules might help in this instance and screw you over next time. So many arguable moments this year, let's call it a day and have a similar one next year. At least we won't lose Lewis due to too much success, I had a funny feeling he might have retired as octogod.

’There’s always next year’ isn’t a good enough reason to gloss over this. Sorry.
We now know we don’t need rules as 1 guy can just at the drop of a hat do whatever he wants with no blowback.

[Swifty]

Sad to see Verstappen fans celebrating such a steal. Sickening to every fan of the sport...

Mercedes dominance for 8 years is not sporty too. Something has to be done

You do it on the track, lad. On the track... This is BS and you know it...

[GrizzleBoy]

There are always two sides of a coin folks, this time it went verstappens way , next year lewis might come out on top in a similar toss. It's a sport, there are rules and interpretations, rigidity of rules might help in this instance and screw you over next time. So many arguable moments this year, let's call it a day and have a similar one next year. At least we didn't lose Lewis, I had a funny feeling he might have retired as octogod.

This wasn't a a coin toss.

The race director, created new rules on the fly that benefitted one team massively to the point of guaranteeing that they win a race they weren't competitive enough to win and securing a WDC, while penalising the team in contention for the win due to the fact that they couldn't have included the scenario that played out in their strategy computations because what happened via the race directors actions was literally not permitted in the regulations of the sport!

Its not bad luck. There was no luck involved.

Someone stepped in and purposely changed the rules out of nowhere, which changed the outcome of the race.

And the only reasoning for doing so according to the result of the protest, is that they stepped in "because they're allowed to".

That's not luck, that's bollocks.

[JordanMugen]

Nothing against Max, but I don't see how his fans are accepting to win like this. In fact I don't even see how Horner wants to win this way either.

There was a safety car, Red Bull pitted for fresh soft tyres, Mercedes didn't, Verstappen overtook Hamilton track. What's the problem?

Its not bad luck. There was no luck involved.

How so? You want to see green flag racing to the flag without backmarkers in the way don't you?

As the stewards noted article 15.3 gives Race Director overriding authority in matters of starting procedure and safety car usage, and article 39.13 overrides article 39.12.

[dans79]

Sad to see Verstappen fans celebrating such a steal. Sickening to every fan of the sport...

Mercedes dominance for 8 years is not sporty too. Something has to be done

And the only reason it ended is because Red Bull had a helping hand! The FIA should be do a rebranded "RIA"!

[214270]

The directive to race on the last lap would’ve been by the Race Director only; no need to confer with the stewards, no?

Which means we’re in a pretty unique situation where the stewards (team) are being asked to look into the RDs (team leaders) effort, lol

The conflict of interest worried me too!

[Just_a_fan]

It's official, Max Verstappen world champion with RED BULL HONDA!

https://tweakers.net/i/zjO50gijpunoR7MO ... user_large

And the point of the image is?

[dans79]

https://www.racefans.net/2021/12/12/nor ... as-for-tv/

Lando Norris says the decision by FIA race director Michael Masi to allow only a limited number of drivers to unlap themselves behind the safety car late in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was “for the TV” spectacle.

“I don’t know what decisions were made based upon things the stewards said in the first place,” Norris explained.

“If that [decision to maintain order] then made Lewis or made Mercedes make the decision to not box, but then later on they suddenly said now they’re allowed to overtake, then I guess that’s not acceptable.

“I don’t know exactly what was said or what was done or so on [in race control], but a controversial end, that’s all I can say.”

Norris said he was surprised when he got the green light from the FIA to pass Hamilton and the safety car, suggesting it was a decision made purely to create an entertaining finish to the race.

“I didn’t actually know it was only the first three or four up to Max [going past],” Norris said. “So it was obviously made to be a fight. It was for the TV, of course. It was for the result. Whether or not it was fair, it’s hard for me to decide.”

[komninosm]

" The Race Director stated that the purpose of Article 48.12 was to remove those lapped cars that
would “interfere” in the racing between the leaders and that in his view Article 48.13 was the one
that applied in this case."

Was Sainz not one of the leaders? Why was he not behind Max but behind Ric (lapped car)?
Ferrari should protest too. Sainz could have won this. If he applied a bit of pressure on Max, maybe Max crash into Hamilton so Sainz wins.