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

[MtthsMlw]

73 days till pre-season testing!

[Dr. Acula]

Masi has to step down. I get the desire to finish under a green flag but not when it determines the outcome of the championship like that.

Well, if he did it the other way round, it would also have determined the outcome of the championship, wouldn't it? Actually letting them race was in fact the way to make the outcome as unpredictable as possible.

[kaller]

Red Bull argued that
1. “Any” does not mean “all”.

What a bunch of BS. The whole sentence is "any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass"
So "any ... will be required" means ALL cars, and not a random selection.

[west52keep64]

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.

[west52keep64]

[Double post]

[Brake Horse Power]

What a race, some luck for Max but Red Bull took full strategic advantage. I don’t see why there is so much hussle about the safety car restart. If the decision was taken earlier to let all the lapped cars pas by and line up behind the result would have been the same. They would have raced the last lap with Max behind Lewis anyway. I suppose now it feels a bit harsh for the Mercedes team since the decision was as taken late and not completely according regulations. The objection to race the last lap is timing wise irrelevant. When the track is cleared you race whether it’s lap 20 or the last lap.

[BrunoH]

. so during the race Hamiltons team radio stats the lapped cars are going to unlap... then after the race.- NONO you cannot do that.... so by the mouth is were the fish dies i guess....

[InsaneX_Badger]

Just leaves a sour taste to a brilliant championship. Oh well, on to 2022, where Ferrari or McLaren have developed well further than our championship protagonists have

[GrizzleBoy]

What a load of rubbish.

So the defence for flouting the written rules since forever, is "because I can, so I did".

Yes, but WHY?

All teams agreed it was desirable to finish in green conditions?

Okay, which team decided that new rules would be written on the fly on the last lap of the last race that left one team with a guaranteed WDC and another team no possible way to defend against it since the rules they'd have had to consider didn't ever exist?

Its just so obviously bad.

[Swifty]

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

[chrisgr]

Why do we have a rulebook? All we need is a single person. I think the justification of the protest rejection is worse than the "crime" itself.

[kaller]

Anyways I won't waste more time on this sh*t show of a "sport", at least as long as Masi is running the clown circus

[_cerber1]

Publicity. Dieter Zetsche stated ten years ago that F1 is a very cost-effective way to generate brand recognition.

Not at such a cost, when all your achievements as a team will be canceled out by the ridiculous decision of the judge. Very expensive advertising, especially in terms of reputation.

[epo]

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

[KeiKo403]

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 do wonder if Mercedes have been all too happy for the FIA to come to this conclusion for the reasons outlined and then have them share it on the decision documents.

If they do go to court they can argue specific points and potentially pull them apart.

Also why did “RedBull argue:…” when they were only there as an interested party? Surely they can’t have a say in those discussion’s as they are between the FIA and Mercedes?