They are confident. They also know that there are extenuating circumstances, and that overturning a result would be a net negative rather than a net positive. Redbull arguably didn’t do anything wrong. The FIA did. So they are in a lose / lose situation. The protest wouldn’t go anywhere anyway, and I doubt Lewis would seriously want to have a championships handed to him because of a massive FIA ****up.
There's not a damned thing Lewis could do about it, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Perhaps this has been explained to you already OP, but I’m a lawyer so thought I would weigh in with the actual section of the rules for you. section 48.12 of the formula 1 sporting regulations (just taking portions of it as it’s quite long) : “any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.” also “once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.” The controversy arises because Masi did not follow the rules. He allowed the lapped cars between max and Lewis to unlap themselves. This gave max a good shot at passing Lewis on the restart but also gave max an advantage at not being threatened by cars who may pass him from behind, such as sainz. If the rules were followed the race would not have been restarted as the cars unlapped themselves on 57, and end of the following lap (58) was the chequered flag. Mercedes made a strategic decision not to pit based on how the rules are written. A safety car so late would mean by the time the track was cleared the race wouldn’t restart. Unfortunately for them, Masi didn’t follow the rules. He was eager to restart the race but really made a mess of it which ultimately robbed Lewis of the title.
Great! A lawyer! Can you explain Article 15.3 to us, and help us understand what it means in relation to 48.12?
Question to Hamilton and Mercedes fans: If the roles were reversed, would you still be be criticizing Masi and saying Hamilton’s 8th championship was a farce?
Kelly is pretty, but for the first time ever, I have to partially side with ktu and say she she needs to eat a cheeseburger.
I largely agree with this analysis except for the fact that Hamilton unfairly maintained and extended his lead after cutting a large section of the track and gaining a couple of seconds. Had any other driver did that, I would be saying he needs to give that back immediately.
Those that think Masi didn’t follow the rules are delusional. It’s been explained multiple times and in details. Both teams have equal opportunity to decide what to do when the safety car came out like all other SC incidents. Had merc decided to change tyres they would’ve had the same opportunity even if they’d given up their first position and ended up in second. They can do what RBR had done and race to get back on top. Fact is they didn’t and Lewis didn’t drive well enough to fend off max. This is still a drive that took a lot of skill to achieve. Not a given win especially against a 7 times world champ.
The damage is already done. So to go at it a little bit more to secure the record breaking titles (which would far overshadow the couple of weeks of moaning), if the case is that clear cut, is a no brainer. If they look at rule 15.3 they know they haven't a leg to stand on.
1) You clearly understand the point I'm making. Much discussion has occured re: ham "giving that back" meaning many felt ham had (re)taken the lead unjustly. But if it makes you feel better, ham MAINTAINED and/or increased his lead by going outside track limits at Turn 7 and the stewards did nothing. 2) Somehow "Circumspect" hamilton managed to eventually get by Checo (with 20 lap-old Softs on the RB). With greater ability ham might have managed that a lap sooner. 3) What's worse at Abu Dhabi, 40 lap-old Hards or 20 lap-old Softs?? I think Pirelli says the Softs are more clearly out of life in that situation. ham needed to defend harder to win a WDC. He didn't. Blame it on everything but his ability if you want.
Not a F1 fan. But it’s obvious to me the powers that be wanted the other guy to win. Life sucks sometimes. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
If you look specifically at the very last lap, I can see how a non-F1 fan forms that conclusion. However, if you look at the season as a whole, you'll see how untrue that statement is.
You're right, I'm not a fan. I only tuned in because of this "controversy." But it looks suspicious when the race director changed his mind. Just FYI, I don't care for watching car racing on TV. It's not the same. Although, I like the in-car cameras. I also don't care for all this F1 bickering about car specs. Just run what ya brung and settle it on the track.
I'm no lawyer, but let's look at this together: If we interpreted that completely liberally and literally (RD having overriding authority in all those things), that basically means the safety car can be brought on and off completely at the whim of a single man, regardless of what's happening on track. We could well have a situation where a safety car might be "ordered" just to cut down a lead, bunch up a field and spice up a race. No mishap needed at all. You know, for entertainment. That's not just a hypothetical. I don't watch NASCRAP, but some of those who do have stated that that was exactly the sort of thing that's happened before in that series. And why stop with just the safety car. The RD has carte blanche to mess with pretty much anything stated in that reg, including arbitrarily deciding between a standing and a rolling start (who knows, he could favour a car with low gear or traction problems by ordering a rolling start) or even arbitrarily stopping any car he chooses, citing some obscure violation of "Sporting Regulations". Basically, if we were to interpret that reg in that manner, there would be no difference between F1 and the WWF/WWE. If you're a true racing fan, that's the very last thing you'd want. Hand to heart, all bias set aside.
This is where it starts, there was no changing of minds. There simply wasn't any unlapping around yet purely because there where still marshals on track. The moment the track was clear, certain cars where unlapped (the Race Director is allowed to do this by rule 15.3, overriding rule 48.12). The director did simply what all teams agreed upon before. Now one team and it's fans are throwing a hissy fit because it didn't suit them, and through social media a false narrative is spun. I'm not blaming you for misunderstanding it at all. It IS quite confusing.
So, FIA conspired with Latifi to crash, creating the safety car situation precisely with 5 laps to go, knowing Max was second and so would pit for new tires but HAM second wouldn’t, yes? Because without the crash, HAM wins. What do you believe was the “decided before” plan without accident and safety car?
You are correct. FIA tried all season long to help the other guy win the WDC, but Max overcame all of that and won instead.
This is exactly what the race provided because of 15.3. That they were able to execute the race as race control, the stewards, and teams agreed to before hand, to end under racing conditions.
I'm an engineer and in my profession "A + B = C". In yours, "A + B might be C or D, depending on interpretation". That being said, your case would be dismissed with prejudice by the judge because you are missing (or omitting on purpose) three crucial facts: 1) Hamilton passes crashed Latifi on lap 53/58. 2) Mercedes decides not to pit Hamilton with still full 5 laps remaining. 3) According to article 15.3 "the race director has overriding authorithy in the following matters..." e) the use of the safety car." Let's be honest guys, it was a combination of bad luck AND not taking risks (remaining on track) for Mercedes, or for Red Bull, a combination of luck AND taking the higher risk (pitting). Please, watch the F1 radio edit on Youtube, Hamilton desperately shakes his head when he passes Latifi's car and what follows next is their the desperation in their voices that they didn't pit because they wanted to maintain track position. Michael Masi did nothing wrong, Max won this championship fair and square.
Had LH defended harder on that last lap, the inevitable outcome would've been Max punting him off the circuit.
