I,m sure he didn’t but it certainly came from it, the key point for me is ……overriding ……authority.. ( over the clerk of the course) not the rules under 48.
Was Masi not quoted once saying he has no power to over ride the regulations on the safety car? think it was at the Eifel GP? Also Regulation 1.1.1 of the FIA international sporting code does say all decisions must be done with sporting fairnes. Its safe to say Masis decision didnt have a gram of sporting integrity in it....
^^^ I read your post as inferring that Masi's decision was not fair. If Hamilton would have won the race there would be no discussion that the decision was unfair. Verstappen wins and the decision is unfair implying that Masi knew he would win. Masi simply did not want a finish under a safety car so he made the decision that would not result in a safety car finish. I see that as wanting a sporting finish. That is how Masi saw it hence the now (in)famous quote: "Toto, it's called a motor race. We went car racing." The real questions are simply; 1. Did Masi have authority under the rules and or regulations to make the decision that he did, and 2. if he had the authority, did the rules and or regulations allow him to make the decision that he made.
I doubt very much that Masi tried to be unfair in Abu Dhabi, or anywhere else. He just applied his decisions in a haphazard way that made F1 and the FIA look silly. I genuinely believe he was doing what he thought was in the best interests of the sporting spectacle. Sadly he got it wrong because the rule book didn’t foresee this situation, so he was forced to make up his on decisions whilst being berated by Merc and RB. Obviously the pressure on him was huge and time available to make a decision too short. Had they red flagged the race, it would have given him the time to devise a better restart strategy for the last 5 laps, and avoided all this post season bluster.
A red flag is only used when there is a security justification. This was obviously not the case. The FIA doesn’t have to follow Lewis' agenda or Mercedes' agenda. It makes no sense. The race and the championship ended under a green flag, which is really desirable. Mercedes had the opportunity to bring Lewis in, and to overtake easily Max on the track after that. They didn’t do it. End of the story.
It hardly matters whether Masi is contradicting himself. He's an official in a motorsports series, and in case you're new to racing around the world, officials/stewards often contradict themselves, depart from precedent, and apply rules in a way that can be inconsistent. IMHO, the way track limits and reckless driving penalties were enforced, absolutely lacked sporting consistency, and frankly, had a clear Mercedes/Hamilton-Bottas bias to it, where when other drivers (including Max) were given penalties for cutting the course, ignoring flags, and outright running into other drivers, it seemed the whole Mercedes team were largely immune to such reprimand, despite open examples of them being guilty of those infractions. But, at the end of the day, it's the FIA's ball. They can do as they please with it. RBR understood this, sucked it up, and kept at it. Mercedes should take a page from their book. Inconsistency in motorsports officialdom is hardly anything new, given how political and complicated it is compared to other competitions. People up in arms acting like Abu Dhabi 2021 is one of the most grave examples of it are frankly being hysterical and melodramatic.
..Yap, you just have to look at how Mercedes won the DTM title this year to realize this was nothing!!
Yikes - Horner and Wolf are as bad as each other, they have both denigrated the sport into a whinge fest. They should take a page from Zak Brown or Binottos book, both have good reason to moan but do it in a professional manner.
Until they fight for the title, they are all gentlemen.. No surprise in their behavior. Again pressure is immense.
Yes, DTM was an absolute disgrace this year with Mercedes. Team orders are indeed a part of racing, but I've never seen such a disgusting display. Even worse than Austria 2002, and that's really saying something.
The safety car rules have been consistant for years. This is one area where we can say has been upheld. This is one area where teams could successsfully strategize with. RB has won many many races by not pitting. Pitting is'nt the issue here.
Its not the end of story. That's why we are still talking about it. I don't care what's desirable. The rules were not writtin based on what a steward may desire at any given time. The rules are there to follow. If Lewis pitted with tire advantage and won, Masi still would have been wrong. The rules were broken.
Yep, pressure showed that under Hamilton and Toto's cheer for the last 7 years, there is an entitlement complex, that manifests itself when they're challenged. Schumacher and Senna were dirty drivers, that was their flaw. Hamilton's is having an insufferable victimhood complex like Mansell, despite the incredible fortune he's had in his career.
Max pit in and won. Lewis could have done the same .. You are so biased that you no longer even realize what you are saying!
Rules. Were. Not. Broken. How many times do you have to have it explained to you? How many appeals must uphold that before you stop this?
It doesn't matter who pitted. If Lewis pitted and won, Masi would have gifted him the championship by breaking the rules, as he did with Max. The issue is Masi breaking the rules wich decided the championship. All he had to do was follow the SC rules.
With respect, you are missing my point. I’m not arguing about whether Lewis should have won, or Max should have won. I’m satisfied with Max winning the wdc. Clearly finishing under a green flag is better than finishing behind a safety car, or ending the race early. We can all agree that. All I’m saying is that the rules for how to handle incidents in the last 5 laps of a race are not fit for purpose. I don’t want to rewind history and change the Abu Dhabi result, but I think these rules need updating to ensure there is an outcome in future which gives a green flag finish and which does not confuse the fans.
Your intellectual dishonesty is astounding. If Lewis had won by pitting, you’d find that Masi made the right decision.. I don’t think you’re a Troll, which is not exactly flattering..
Excellent suggestion. Brazil demonstrated just what a farce the rule is for a top team like Mercedes. I would like to see some explanation of the huge power advantage by Lewis's Rocket Motor--same spec as all Mercedes engines? Hardly and the customer teams are mute on the subject.
One more time. It wouldn't have mattered if all the lapped cars had been waived by, Lewis would've still had Max behind him either way. And as for the safety car coming in a lap sooner than the regulations lay out, big deal. That's hardly the most grave altering of the regulations, and pretending so is just Hamilton fan hysteria. Hell, the race could've gone green a lap before since the course was clean, and then what would your excuse have been? We all know Hamilton fans would've still conjured up conspiracy theories, and made "injustice" memes for social media. The safety car could've been a variable for Lewis as much as it was Max, but Lewis decided to be the rabbit, and he lost. End of story.
Sorry Respectfully disagree Why the last five laps ? You know the last lap of Brazil 2008 was very confusing for the fans. But this is why Formula one is all about.
The rules were broken bro. You can use the word override, or pick any other word that makes you feel better.
The scenario you mention above would have been within the rules. We would not be discussing this now. But that didn't happen. Masi had many options, he chose to break the rules and decide the championship.
It doesn't matter if I would find Masi made the right decision. There is only one truth. No matter how we feel.
