Well the odd decision is not to let the 5 cars unlap themselves, the odd decision was NOT to let the rest (I believe 3 cars) unlap themselves as well. Since the normal procedure is to resume the race in the order of track position. So it's unlikely that really was Mercedes' strategy. Under normal circumstances the only way Mercedes' strategy would have paid off is if the race was ended under the yellow flag. Which was unlikely as well since it's customary not to finish the race under a yellow/red flag F.e. in Baku Masi could've ended the race under the yellow flag as well. But he didn't, he let the race resume for the final 3 laps after a 30 min. red flag.
I genuinely believe one single thing is the difference between this being the ongoing debate that it is or not. That is that Masi seemed to at first go one direction and then change. Now, he changed based on the agreement to end on green conditions. Nevertheless, he made it seem that it would end under safety car and/or not let cars un-lap at first and then changed to let the cars un-lap. He set the expectations and then changed. This is what caused the upheaval beyond the normal ‘my team didn’t win’ stuff. It was definitely crudely executed however he and the whole team were under an unusual time crunch and obviously direction from on high was to end with a racing condition and not an anticlimactic safety car. That’s the chance that’s incorporated with ALL sport. All. Shoulda Coulda Woulda.
Now we will see what happens to Masi. If he is not on the FIA organigram anymore, we will know that the FIA didn't approve of his decisions. That will be the acid test.
Masi may very well receive unjust punishment. That’s entirely possible. If he is does it proves nothing other than they’re tired of dealing with this nonsense from the Elton simps. Many of which are in this very thread.
And that was probably just an error, not anything deliberate on Masi's part. Would've been no time to get the waived by. Stewarding error, they happen. Not that that particular one would've changed anything for Ham.
Masi being fired over only what happened in Abu Dhabi would demonstrate that one man and team can use media campaigns to harass motorsport sanctioning bodies into submitting to their well, a chilling precedent to say the least. It would mean officials would feel intimidated to not rule against drivers and teams with huge social backing, or else risk being harassed and fired. Is that a situation we really want? To people understand such a precedent won't end with Abu Dhabi? There's a case to be made for holding officials in motorsports more accountable. Social media and smear campaigns against the integrity of the sport, and harassment and absurd accusations of race fixing are not an acceptable way to advance that cause.
Exactly, The FIA must publicly support Masi. It’s time to get the house in order and show the teams who’s in charge. Otherwise the effects will be devastating.
Indeed. Now Masi/FIA is under massive duress from a huge fanclub of a british driver. That'll influence the decision.
I think Masi will stay put in his place. If the FIA want's to show strength and that will not be bullied by teams or fans, they have to stand by their man, otherwise, no one will be interested in the job. Because let's face it, in this kind of situation, there are always someone who is gonna be happy and someone who is gonna be very unhappy, and unlike what some pretend, there isn't a black and white set of rules, simply because there are numerous and various situations that no one can predict will happen, so there will always be a grey area were the race director will have to take a decision out of the box.
Thats very true and a good point you raise, but it doesnt take too much effort from the FIA to sit down and write a set of sporting rules that are fit for purpose. A lot of these rules are just cut and paste jobs from previous years. I would imagine there is a lot of incidents over the last 30 years to reference and glean facts from. History can teach the FIA something. However the RD must apply the rules and they should be sensibly constructed. The FIA must take the blame, dont pin this on the referee. Tony
Are you saying the only teams/fans who complained are Hamilton fans? If so you definetly need a break from Fchat.
Some keep seeing the Abu Dhabi "cock-up" as simply a Hamilton v. Verstappen issue, but it goes deeper than that. It's an organizational problem the FIA has to solve; sacking Masi would be the first step. But incident management, safety car, yellow flag, race interuption, pit lane closure, and the role of the officials all have to be reviewed. It's not acceptable that, following a racing incident, the race director alone has the power to chance the racing order. One wonders how far that could go in future.
Where there is an OFFICIAL statement that Masi was fired, and if so, because of Abu-Dhabu? The FIA just got a new president, the first in its history from the middle east, it's completely natural that people will be replaced or moved. The new president will want to put people he trusts on key positions. All this "Michael Masi was fired" was invented, as always, by journalists who live off producing onlin gossip.
If Pirro & company weren't sacked after canada, ther3e is absolutely no reason to penalize Masi for his decision, which in many opinion was the correct one.
