You are right on this one. I see people more hungry ( Wolff and Horner) and in the end they deserves this. Binotto need a ruthless guy just next to him.
I think there is something that is not clearly understood here. Allowing lapped cars to pass the pace car and re-join the back of the field only allows them to make up a maximum of ONE LAP per safety car incident. In your scenario the 3 cars that are 1 lap down would be waved by the pace car and allowed to be back on the lead lap once they circulate and take their position at the back of the line. The single car that is 6 laps down should also be allowed to pass the pace car and take their position at the back of the line with them now being 5 laps behind. It is not about letting EVERY car get back on the lead lap because that would not be equitable to all of the drivers. I agree that whether that one car is 5 or 6 laps down will make no difference to the outcome of the race but at least they are treated equally by the rules which is the fundamental and most important thing about applying either laws or regulations. Ironically last month I raced at Spa and one of the members of our team was a Luxembourg lawyer who specializes in dealing with the FIA particularly when it comes to arbitration or litigation of a driver penalty. It would be difficult to have a more experienced person comment on what happened at AD and this gentleman was unequivocal in his belief that the regulations were not correctly followed.
... and yet, the stewards at AD, with a few hours and clear heads to analyze the decision, unequivocally supported the director's decision and clearly spelled-out exactly why the rules were followed appropriately. The over-riding point being (for me): AT THE VERY LEAST, most people can agree that the rules were ambiguous, without a clear explanation of what rules may over-ride other rules (or, rules subject to "different interpretations" as the FIA concluded after months of analysis and study). If at least this much can be agreed, which is true among all of the people i've spoken to, then the question remains: who has the authority, during the heat of the moment, to provide an "interpretation" that resolves the "ambiguity"? During a race, there's just no time to assemble a team of lawyers and develop and legally-binding consensus. So who has the authority to make those calls in the heat of battle, especially relating to the safety car, that aren't clearly and concisely spelled-out in the rules? You know where i'm going ... This is why my perspective has always been, since the day of the race: YES, rules were "interpreted" by the Race Director ... but NO rules were broken (none, zero), and the Race Director had FULL AUTHORITY to decide as he did. Some people just didn't "like" his decision!!
Toto Wolff had been Mercedes principal since 2013: 7 WCCs and 7 WDCs. Horner has been leading Red Bull since 2007: 4 WCCs and 4 WDCs. During that time, the Scuderia had 4 different leaders: Domenicali, Mattiaci, Arrivabene, Binotto and no title. Ferrari needs to get its house in order before it can get any credibility.
allow me to add, in the spirit of "full disclosure", that I've always also maintained (and still do): - the director and the stewards did not have a season-long history of supporting Verstappen over Hamilton in 2021. If anything, reality was exactly opposite. - plenty of other "pro-Hamilton" decisions during the 2021 season had a much bigger point-swing, and therefore a much bigger impact on the WDC, than anything that happened in the final laps at AD (Silverstone comes to mind, as does the first lap at AD). - nothing was "gifted" to Verstappen at AD. The director simply allowed the cars to race, for one last lap. For all anyone knew, Hamilton would "Silverstone" Verstappen again, just as he said he would, and the stewards would look the other way. The end result of the race was far, far from a "forgone conclusion". In the final race of the season, it happened that an authorized and valid decision wasn't in Hamilton's favor. That's it. No one with any sense of intellectual honesty believes that Verstappen didn't earn the valid and legit WDC of 2021.
To cover your points: 1. These are the same stewards that validated a race in Belgium where no racing laps were completed? You'll pardon if I question their impartiality as they had a mess on their hands are were figuring out the best way to clean it up. 2. I totally agree that assembling a team of lawyers to interpret the regulations is nonsense. That said it does not take a lawyer to determine that when a decision applies different rules to different drivers then it is impossible for that ruling to be considered fair and equitable. 3. I agree that the rules were 'interpreted' by the Race Director but when one decision applies one set of rules to some drivers and a second set of rules to other drivers then it goes by default against the job of the race director to be impartial. This is all incredibly basic and does not require any knowledge of the sport. I cannot stress enough that I don't give a damn who won the championship. What I do care about is seeing the sport I love being carried out with integrity. Both Spa and Abu Dhabi were a total farce.
Understood. I certainly disagree with plenty of decisions by the stewards. But it's too far away from reality to suggest that Masi's decisions had no basis at all, no foundation in the rules ... both the "letter" and the "spirit". It's also naive to suggest that a Race Director doesn't have the authority to make a call that deals with a case not explicitly covered by the rules. The rules simply can't possibly anticipate every scenario; and the idea of "fairness" has more than one "interpretation". By the way ... I love the sport also, but i consider the first lap at Abu Dhabi to be "farcical", and absolutely the very definition of "unfair". I also consider Silverstone to be a total farce ... a MUCH more dangerous farce, a farce with a point-swing MUCH more significant than anything that happened at Abu Dhabi. I do not, for one second, consider Silverstone to be "fair" ... neither the driving, nor the penalty. And, unlike Abu Dhabi, safety was DEFINITELEY impacted !!! But if you or I tend to get too upset about "different rules being applied to different drivers", then we might want to consider another sport to enjoy Finally, please note: The WDC is the summation of ALL laps of ALL races ... so, unfortunately, it doesn't matter to the season-long WDC battle if those "ruling inconsistencies" happen across multiple races, or happen in the same race or even on the same lap. It all adds up at the end; no one race carries more points than another. Some decisions go your way, some don't ... and the notion of "fairness" doesn't end when any one checkered flag drops.
For those that want to see the last lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi race......but with V-10's edited....which is well done IMO. Tweet— Twitter API (@user) date
I had a most interesting lunch today with a close racing friend of mine who I had not seen in a while as he was living in Australia. As it happens he is very good friends with one Michael Masi and boy did I get the inside scoop. Simply put just about everything I have said from day one EXACTLY mirrors the thoughts of the FIA and even of Masi Himself. Rules were not 'interpreted' they were BROKEN in Abu Dhabi and the FIA cleaned up the mess the best they could with Masi being held responsible for his error. I don't mean to gloat but I think I will a little
And yet, in the official report from the FIA ... there was no mention of "broken rules" INSTEAD, these are the DIRECT QUOTES from the final FIA report on the matter: 31. It was apparent from the analysis that there could be different interpretations of Article 48.12 and/or Article 48.13, and that this likely contributed to some of the confusion surrounding the safety car unlapping procedure. It was therefore considered that these provisions of the F1 Sporting Regulations would benefit from clarification. 32. It was also considered that the decisions regarding the safety car at the end of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP likely took into account previous discussions (including at meetings of the F1 SAC, the F1 commission, and F1 Team Managers) that made clear F1 teams' preference to end races under green flag conditions, rather than behind a safety car, when safe to do so. The F1 drivers' consultation confirmed that finishing a race under green flag conditions remains desirable, but that safety should always come first. If for safety reasons it is not possible to withdraw the safety car, the F1 teams confirmed that they would accept finishing the race under safety car conditions. IN SHORT: The FIA confirmed that The Race Director exercised his authority (given by the rules) to interpret the rules in a manner that allowed for a finish under green (as it was safe to do so). This conclusion by the FIA is, of course, completely consistent with the rules as-written (in 2021), as well as the Stewards' decision immediately following the race. Certainly, anyone is free to believe any rumors or hearsay they choose to (including the belief that the FIA didn't really mean the words they actually wrote in the final report) ... but none of it really matters, does it? Max Verstappen remains the 2021 WDC ... also validated by the FIA High time for the Hamilton fans to let it go, and move on ...
Stewards' clear explanation of the rules, immediately following Abu Dhabi 2021: purely "political" FIA report, recognizing that 2021 rules were open to interpretation: purely "political" FIA report, emphasizing the desire by all teams to finish under green unless unsafe: purely "political" FIA report, confirming a rule change for 2022: purely "political" FIA report, validating Verstappen as 2021 WDC: purely "political" FIA dismissal of Masi: NOT political! this move by the FIA, THIS one ... no "politics" involved! bin Sulayem opening the door for Masi's return as F1 race director: purely "political" do i have that right?
I couldn't care less about which part was political and which wasn't. The final result was a just one. Karma. As for Masi: Well, nomen est omen, he created that messi so he had to go. But I'm glad he did what he did.
This idiocy is precisely why F1 has a hard time growing its audience and a hard time keeping the existing one. I love F1 and always will but every time I talk one of my friends into watching a race they come back scratching their head - "why did the guy that was fastest not start on the pole?" // "what was the guy that finished first now shown as the winner?" // "why are people still talking about a race that happened last year?" // "why did the guy that bumped the other guy off the track not get a penalty on lap X but the same thing happened on lap Y and the guy got a penalty?" yadda yadda yadda. I/we realize that the intricacy, minutia and strategy is what makes F1 unique and the additional complexity separates it from some of the more ahem ... "straightforward" motor sports like NASCAR but all this political crap just adds to the unnecessary complexity and drama that turns off a lot of potential new fans and drives even the most loyal away or at least to a point of ambivalence or reduced interest. Just my observation FWIW - Cheers
There is that. Some of the rules have gotten just way too complex. Case in point was the last race where just one data analyst of the FIA realized that Max was indeed champion and all the journos had no clue. The fact that we on here discuss about what is allowed/not allowed during a red flag just goes to show that the stuff is too complex. The budget limit is another one that's an own-goal. And the rules about the safety car and who can and cannot unlap themselves I will never get. And yes all the components being counted and making a mockery out of qualifying doesn't help either. I don't have a solution, but I do think the rules should be simplified.
I think the basics rules were wrong, and the FIA keep adding on to them. There is a conflict of interest between the FIA, supposed to uphold the integrity of the sport, and the commercial rights holder, Liberty. It's not apparent, but I suspect that Liberty is now fully in control, and dictates some of the rules. As it is now, F1 is a real turn-off. It's a circus.
Can't see it getting better. 'Integrity' in sports has left the building. Here in the US, for example, parity in the NFL means so many rules to make a large percentage of games being won on the last play or 2; radio broadcasts of a game are on the '(Your team's) Entertainment Network'. People want drama, not integrity.
