Michael Masi gets fired/replaced?

Probably just 're positioned' somewhere else in the FIA. I do feel for him. He needs a proper strong assistant. Like Herbie Blash was to Charlie. Masi is just too soft. and FIA should stop both Toto and Horner whining on the radio.

Toto demanding Masi not to use the safety car already shows hows weak Masi is.

 

Yes. My post 162 of this thread “Masi is taking heat for helping the sport rather than helping Mercedes. That is not right. He did very well for the race and for the sport.”
Masi won’t go anywhere.

 

Don't override me.

 

Ignore and override - Master Chief Jason Hayes

 

I certainly will. How dare you of ALL people in this forum have the audacity and gall to tell anyone in this forum to take a break. I would guess a vast majority would be ecstatic if you took your own advice. Simp on son...

 

The racing order wasn't changed, genius.

 

Listen son. You need to take a break too, along with the other guy. Maybe you all can go find Masi.

 

Hmm.

 

After 583 posts y'all can't figure out that most of the F1 community agree that the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a farce. I'd also like to point out that most fans don't want a reversal of the outcome, the race is over and the deed is done. Max is World Champion without an asterisk. What we do want is clarification and a rewrite of the rules. The race director should not be able to override safety car protocol. The rules are there so the teams can know what to expect. They didn't bring Lewis in because Mercedes believed the race would end under yellow, and had protocol been followed it would have ended under a safety car. Max pitted because he didn't have anything to lose.

I also believe a majority of fans do not want the team bosses influencing the race director during the race. All of the back and forth is great for TV but in reality it's ridiculous.

 

Disagree
If Mercedes believed the race would have ended under yellow this is their own problem !
Max is a genuine champion and I’m pretty satisfied he managed to win against this mighty and arrogant Mercedes team.

 

Perfect !

 

YES, Max Verstappen is the legit, unchallenged WDC of 2021 ... "without an asterisk"
It MAY be true that the rules will get re-written ... however, re-writing the rules gives full vindication to Masi, who clearly followed both the "letter" and "spirit" of the rules, as currently written.

Fully UNTRUE, however, that Mercedes expected the race to "end under yellow" when Latifi crashed. Two reasons:

FIRST, Latifi crashed on lap 53, with five (5) laps to go. As recognized and acknowledged by Mercedes, the average F1 safety car interval is only four (4) laps:

https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/en/news/2018/06/insight-understanding-f1-safety-cars/

(From this Mercedes F1 link: "This effect is intensified by the fact that a regular Safety Car typically lasts about four laps, but a VSC only tends to last one to two.")

SECOND, the Stewards noted and acknowledged that “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.” No person, no team has ever challenged the pre-race agreement, where all teams agreed that the race would end under green if possible.


Bottom Line: The second Latifi crashed, the expectation by ALL teams and drivers was that the race would end under green, not yellow.

 

There was no certainty of that, since no one knows in advance how long it will take to clear the track after an accident.

From a crash to releasing the cars after a safety car period, 5 laps is a very short time.

In fact, to make the finish happen under green flag, Masi had to break the rules!

That wasn't expected either !

 

Average safety car interval is 4 laps. Mercedes knew it. Latifi crashed with 5 laps to go.

The "average" value of a random variable is, in fact, the "expected" value.

Racing, including pit strategy, is about split-second, well-informed decisions. The "expectation" ... at the moment of Latifi's crash ... was that the race would end under green, for the reasons outlined above.

Expectations were met, and no rules were broken.

 

Would you recommend that Masi continue to handpick what cars to unlap in the future, maybe beginning of the season?

 

Except expectations were not met. All cars were not allowed to unlap themselves, and the race was not resumed on the proceeding lap. Instead some cars unlapped themselves and the race was resumed on the same lap.

Again, I don’t think anyone is arguing that the results should be flipped. That would not be fair to Red Bull. Instead the rules should be amended and clarified so this can’t happen again.

 

I recommend that the Race Director follow both the "letter" and the "spirit" of the rules ... exactly as it happened in Abu Dhabi.

 

Latifi crashes with 5 laps to go ...

QUICK: Will the race finish under yellow or green? You have to make the call RIGHT NOW, to decide your pit strategy. Waiting a few laps, to see how things "play-out", is NOT an option. You can't wait until the race is over, to make your call ...

Given that the average safety car interval is 4 laps (as quoted by Mercedes, above), and given that ALL teams agreed before the race, that the race will end under green ... what's your call? Green or yellow? QUICK!! What's your call?


The well-informed answer is obvious ...

 

I'm not talking about general rules, thats too broad. I'm talking about this specific safety car rule. Would you recommend Masi hand pick unlapped cars at the next race? If you stand behind Masi's decision this should be a yes or no.

 

The most important safety car rule, that supercedes the others, is 48.13. The stewards, and all FIA officials, recognize the supremacy of 48.13. Surely, this is the safety car rule to which you are referring ... right?

 

No. 48.13 and 48.12 are rules and should be honored. You taking too long to give me a straight answer.

 

No. 48.13 supercedes 48.12. Do you need me to quote the stewards on this ... again?

(and, of course, 15.3 over-rides all)

 

See if you have to pick and choose certain rules, that already gives me the answer. But i'll play along.
So would you recommend Masi to inforce 48.12, then reverse it to 48.13, then kill the previuose 2 with 15.3 the next race?

 

Directly quoting the stewards, who quickly denied Mercedes' protest:

"That Article 15.3 allows the Race Director to control the use of the safety car, which in our determination includes its deployment and withdrawal.

That although Article 48.12 may not have been applied fully, in relation to the safety car returning
to the pits at the end of the following lap, Article 48.13 overrides that and once the message
"Safety Car in this lap" has been displayed, it is mandatory to withdraw the safety car at the end
of that lap."

Not only is 48.12 the "weakest" of the several rules involving the safety car, the language in 48.12 is vague (at best) ... hence the use of the word "may" in the stewards quoted language, above.


Hierarchy of the rules: 15.3 > 48.13 > 48.12
(15.3 over-rides 48.13, and 48.13 over-rides 48.12)

Trying to read 48.12, by far the weakest of the rules, in isolation is ... ill-informed (i'm being kind).


The conclusion couldn't be more clear: Masi acted with full power and authority given to him by the rules ... and no rules were broken.

 

If everything was above board and hunky-dory as you pretend, explain why the racing world (journalists, pundits, spectators, teams, etc...) is split over what happened at Abu Dhabi.

If that was fine, and there was no controversy, why would the FIA new president be arranging a meeting between teams' representatives, officials, some drivers that will be followed by an enquiry and the result submitted to the FIA general council?

Do you really think that would happen if everything was absolutely clear cut, without no contestation possible?

It's not only a few disgruntled spectators that felt cheated by the actions of Masi; the FIA itself has to examine how it administer F1, or has NETFLIX already taken over from Liberty. Following Spa and Abu Dhabi, F1 followers are entitled to know !