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

[banibhusan]

The thing is, in this case, rules are not ambiguous. They are black and white.

Race director went astray by a lot, that can't possibly happen without your bosses' approval.

Even if Masi is gone, nothing will really change. This is the new F1, simply.

I was referring to the steward's judgement that there is a rule that gives the authority to the race directory to override rule 48.12. But agree with the rest.

[TwanV]

Are we still going in circles? I see the same 5 people past the same text over and over again. The rules this the rules that. The rules, aka the stuff that is actually written in the regulations, state that there are procedures But:race control has the final say. In other words, there are no clear cut rules. It's a sport, it has a referee, there is subjectiveness is all this. How long is this going to take?

[banibhusan]

And I appreciate the dilemma. In a nutshell it was 'Do I follow the regulations and guarantee Hamilton winning the title, or do I throw the regs in the bin, make up some new ones and provide a blockbuster last lap shootout, albeit one heavily stacked in Verstappen's favour?'

You can see why option b is appealing for marketing the product and 'the show', but it's simply not an excuse for throwing the regs out of the window, particularly in his role as the person being specifically tasked with applying the regs accurately in races.

Well, option b is appealing in a sense that there will be a new champion for everybody who were saying all these years that "What's the point of watching the sport when we know Lewis will be the WDC at the end!!". But honestly, it wouldn't have made a big difference in terms of spectacle or thrill or excitement even if they had just red flagged it and let the drivers race on fresh tyres for the last 5 laps in a bunched up pack. It would still have been fun for a couple of laps at least and nobody would be complaining now. Everybody would have said that even if Hamilton won again, he fought his a$$ off to win this championship.

[Gothrek]

From my point of view, Massi panicked a bit. He should have let the backmarkers past 2 rounds earlier, Vettel, Alonso, Ric all have radio messages mentioning why they are not allowed to overtake. I think Massi was facing a dilemma what to do. He initially caved to Merc pressure not letting then through. Then probably realized it was not the right the thing to do and made up some rules. As I stated many times before, if Massi would have let the backmarkers through 1-2 laps earlier - which was ok. The result would have been the same. Now everybody is crying foul and making something more out of it.

[Bill_Kar]

The thing is, in this case, rules are not ambiguous. They are black and white.

Race director went astray by a lot, that can't possibly happen without your bosses' approval.

Even if Masi is gone, nothing will really change. This is the new F1, simply.

I was referring to the steward's judgement that there is a rule that gives the authority to the race directory to override rule 48.12. But agree with the rest.

No, mate, there is no such rule. The article that gives power to the race director doesn't mention he can override 48.12. It says they can control SC appearance and disappearance from the track, always complying with the procedures. If he could really override 48.12, then what's the point of having 100 pages of sporting regulations?

This is FIA saving face, trying desperately to find a foothold on something, but in an independent investigation, politics-free, they would be torn apart for this justification.

[MattWellsyWells]

I've spoken to a lot of friends, family, colleagues who don't usually follow F1 but just tuned in yesterday and they all think the ending yesterday was stupid. Yesterday was a massive opportunity to gain new fans to the sport but most people sound like they are put off because it just seems ridiculous.

Most people can see that one man dominated that race and deserved to win but it was arguably robbed from him by either bizarre rules or dodgy decisions. A lot of people think F1 is a stupid sport or not even a sport and I think yesterday will have reinforced that opinion in those people.

That's the biggest shame for me and I was actually a bit embarrassed trying to explain this to people who know I'm a huge fan of the sport. Makes me look stupid as well.

Either driver would have deserved the championship based on the whole season. A shame it had to end this way.

[Starkblood80]

Are we still going in circles? I see the same 5 people past the same text over and over again. The rules this the rules that. The rules, aka the stuff that is actually written in the regulations, state that there are procedures But:race control has the final say. In other words, there are no clear cut rules. It's a sport, it has a referee, there is subjectiveness is all this. How long is this going to take?

So where was the subjectivity in Brazil of Hamilton’s clearly broken wing? You can’t be objective over one rule and subjective over another.
Be honest with yourself and admit had the show been on the other foot yesterday you would be singing a completely different tune.

[Roo]

It is rather telling that Merc and Lewis haven’t tweeted beyond Merc saying they’re appealing.

[Phil]

I've spoken to a lot of friends, family, colleagues who don't usually follow F1 but just tuned in yesterday and they all think the ending yesterday was stupid. Yesterday was a massive opportunity to gain new fans to the sport but most people sound like they are put off because it just seems ridiculous.

Most people can see that one man dominated that race and deserved to win but it was arguably robbed from him by either bizarre rules or dodgy decisions. A lot of people think F1 is a stupid sport or not even a sport and I think yesterday will have reinforced that opinion in those people.

That's the biggest shame for me and I was actually a bit embarrassed trying to explain this to people who know I'm a huge fan of the sport. Makes me look stupid as well.

Either driver would have deserved the championship based on the whole season. A shame it had to end this way.

I can't imagine that most "non-f1 fans" would be in disagreement over what happened. In their eyes, instead of a boring winner being 10 seconds up the road with no hope to be caught or passed, they got to see a last lap dash to the finish.

How would they know about the tire advantage if they don't follow the sport? How would they have known the procedures for a f1 restart during a safety car period? How would they know the respective advantage and disadvantage when factoring in pit times and who has which options available to them?

Sorry mate. The non-fans got exactly what they wanted. Last lap drama without the requirement for any brain cells whatsoever.

I'm not saying it's right - but yesterday, the "show" was chosen above all else.

And to all the Verstappen supporters in this thread who think the decision was right... how would you have felt if Max had dominated the race with a 10s gap and then have it all go to tears because the race director decided to throw all the procedures out the window and enable Hamilton on fresh softs a chance at overturning a one-sided 50 lap race up to that point? There's only really one answer.

[e30ernest]

It is rather telling that Merc and Lewis haven’t tweeted beyond Merc saying they’re appealing.

Lewis was quick to congratulate Max at the end of the race. So was his father.

Merc keeping silent now, and Lewis' silence now is likely a corporate decision. I'm guessing they are discussing internally whether or not to pursue the appeal, in which case staying silent is the more prudent approach.

[jurinius]

Conclusion :

If Max is an undisputed Champion after this season, why bordering to answers to Hamilton fans. The truth is Max and RedBull will never be cleared of the Masi manipulation and it is sad.

Everydoby even the one race viewer saw what happened, U don't like Mercedes or Hamilton, the guy was robbed. So using Mercedes 8 or 7 years domination or Verstappen almighty driving capabilities or Hamilton errors in Baku wont gonna change that.

Just chill and choose who is the best 4 you and what decision makes you live your life in peace. Don't try to push your opinions into other people mind. F1 goes on

[Ryar]

In my opinion firing Masi would barely solve the problem as long as the rules are ambiguous. In this case particular the SC rules should have been clear about lapped cars and there shouldn't be any "ifs and buts" or "the race directory having the final say". Anyways after this dramatic season, I am just curious to see the revenue of FOM and liberty media. They would have dragged it to the final corner if possible to keep it exciting and make up for the lost revenue from last year.

The thing is, in this case, rules are not ambiguous. They are black and white.

Race director went astray by a lot, that can't possibly happen without your bosses' approval.

Even if Masi is gone, nothing will really change. This is the new F1, simply.

I love this new F1, where there is intense competition, leading to stressful official decisions and not one driver checking out after 1st lap in a 2 second a lap fast car.

[Ryar]

And to all the Verstappen supporters in this thread who think the decision was right... how would you have felt if Max had dominated the race with a 10s gap and then have it all go to tears because the race director decided to throw all the procedures out the window and enable Hamilton on fresh softs a chance at overturning a one-sided 50 lap race up to that point? There's only really one answer.

We saw more horrible things than that this season. Didn't we? Taken out by a driver, that suddenly now in the last race deserved to win, only because he had taken Max out to create this opportunity. An unfortunate tyre blow out when leading comfortably in Baku and being taken out by a brain d**d driver in Hungary. Considering all those heart breaking moments that gave this "show" that everyone is talking about, it doesn't feel an iota of pain to see what happened in Abu Dhabi.

[Starkblood80]

In my opinion firing Masi would barely solve the problem as long as the rules are ambiguous. In this case particular the SC rules should have been clear about lapped cars and there shouldn't be any "ifs and buts" or "the race directory having the final say". Anyways after this dramatic season, I am just curious to see the revenue of FOM and liberty media. They would have dragged it to the final corner if possible to keep it exciting and make up for the lost revenue from last year.

The thing is, in this case, rules are not ambiguous. They are black and white.

Race director went astray by a lot, that can't possibly happen without your bosses' approval.

Even if Masi is gone, nothing will really change. This is the new F1, simply.

I love this new F1, where there is intense competition, leading to stressful official decisions and not one driver checking out after 1st lap in a 2 second a lap fast car.

So Hamilton didn’t check out after lap one then? I can’t help think you would have been chirping a different tune had the roles been reversed

[Ryar]

The thing is, in this case, rules are not ambiguous. They are black and white.

Race director went astray by a lot, that can't possibly happen without your bosses' approval.

Even if Masi is gone, nothing will really change. This is the new F1, simply.

I love this new F1, where there is intense competition, leading to stressful official decisions and not one driver checking out after 1st lap in a 2 second a lap fast car.

So Hamilton didn’t check out after lap one then? I can’t help think you would have been chirping a different tune had the roles been reversed

He did, at turn 6 on lap 1.