Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021Formula 1

[Jubby]

But that’s Mercedes’ own fault. They shot themselves in the foot by not immediately pitting Lewis when the SC came out; he was after all still in Sector 3. They could’ve stopped him, and might have come out ahead of Verstappen, even if Red Bull hadn’t stopped him.

And had Max stayed out and been ahead of Lewis, then he would’ve been SWALLOWED, DESTROYED. There was no way Verstappen would’ve won the championship, even if he decided to crash into Hamilton. That would’ve rendered him with a disqualification from the championship, and rightfully so.

But none of that happened, because Mercedes were caught sleeping when it mattered the most. It’s a shame that Masi messed the SC period up, the confusion and odd decisions are his fault, and it’s because of him that many people feel Verstappen is an illegitimate champion. None of that should’ve happened, and it could have been prevented easily.

So I agree: Masi should resign.

Well stated. This was my thought 100%.

 

[Touring Mars]

Oops poorly worded. Not throw out HAM and VER, but throw out the entire race result, like it never happened.

Or... re-run the race next week?

But that’s not correct. They had to wait for the incident to be cleared first. They waited and then decided to screw the rules and benefit only Max. No other unlapped cars.

That's what I was unclear about - though I'm not sure why the lapped cars couldn't have been allowed to start passing once Latifi's car was cleared, since it was clearly gone by the time the cars between LH and MV were allowed passed.

I guess that the spirit of the rule - to allow lapped cars to pass - is intended to remove interference from the racing at the sharp end of the grid, so while the rule may have been broken according to the letter of the law, it could be argued that it was at least applied correctly in terms of what the rules are intended to achieve...

 

[Veinz]

I was surprised they didn’t pit him, but it does seem like one of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations.

There was no way they were going to let this race finish behind the safety car.

 

[andrea]

Finnish commentary:

 

[McLaren]

Was it though? The precedent is that cars can unlap themselves under a SC car - had things gone ahead normally per the precedent the outcome wouldn't have been different - Mercedes gambled incorrectly with the tyres. Plus, a few times on the final lap it seemed Lewis had Max but Max outmanoeuvred him. I agree it should have been handled differently but if it were a normal SC restart then the same would have happened.

I think the bottom line is that nobody wanted the race to end this way and Masi has to go.

It would've. The last lap would've been finished under SC as the rest of the field gets itself re-sorted.

But that’s Mercedes’ own fault. They shot themselves in the foot by not immediately pitting Lewis when the SC came out; he was after all still in Sector 3. They could’ve stopped him, and might have come out ahead of Verstappen, even if Red Bull hadn’t stopped him.

And had Max stayed out and been ahead of Lewis, then he would’ve been SWALLOWED, DESTROYED. There was no way Verstappen would’ve won the championship, even if he decided to crash into Hamilton. That would’ve rendered him with a disqualification from the championship, and rightfully so.

But none of that happened, because Mercedes were caught sleeping when it mattered the most. It’s a shame that Masi messed the SC period up, the confusion and odd decisions are his fault, and it’s because of him that many people feel Verstappen is an illegitimate champion. None of that should’ve happened, and it could have been prevented easily.

So I agree: Masi should resign.

If Lewis pits and comes out behind Max under cars being allowed to unlap themselves, Max finishes 1st under SC. If Lewis pits and Max pits, Lewis either finishes 1st under SC or has to battle it out on the last lap.

The way things were going were the ideal situations for Merc: Lewis finishes 1st under SC, Lewis likely finishes 1st as Max has to battle through 5 cars fighting their own race.

The decision to let Max's buffer go ahead and no one else was afforded that same luxury is the issue.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Well stated. This was my thought 100%.

Based on what Mercedes told Hamilton, he would've been behind Verstappen if they pitted.

I guess that the spirit of the rule - to allow lapped cars to pass - is intended to remove interference from the racing at the sharp end of the grid, so while the rule may have been broken according to the letter of the law, it could be argued that it was at least applied correctly in terms of what the rules are intended to achieve...

I'll just say that I'm not a fan of the rule. Any advantage gained has been gained fairly and if they there were racing, they would have to pass the cars on the track anyway. Remove the rule and keep the cars as is.

 

[pumaATTACK]

Was it though? The precedent is that cars can unlap themselves under a SC car - had things gone ahead normally per the precedent the outcome wouldn't have been different - Mercedes gambled incorrectly with the tyres. Plus, a few times on the final lap it seemed Lewis had Max but Max outmanoeuvred him. I agree it should have been handled differently but if it were a normal SC restart then the same would have happened.

I think the bottom line is that nobody wanted the race to end this way and Masi has to go. I also feel that it was all just done for drama and various decisions this year were done to artificially create this winner takes all finale. Still, at least the WRC is just only a month away!

Then let them all unlap! They literally only benefited Max and nobody else. There was still other battles on track.

 

[OutlawQuadrnt]

Or... re-run the race next week?


That's what I was unclear about - though I'm not sure why the lapped cars couldn't have been allowed to start passing once Latifi's car was cleared, since it was clearly gone by the time the cars between LH and MV were allowed passed.

I guess that the spirit of the rule - to allow lapped cars to pass - is intended to remove interference from the racing at the sharp end of the grid, so while the rule may have been broken according to the letter of the law, it could be argued that it was at least applied correctly in terms of what the rules are intended to achieve...

Except everyone else on the lead lap other than Lewis and Max were not given the ability to race each other without interference.

 

[Earth]

I was surprised they didn’t pit him, but it does seem like one of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations.

There was no way they were going to let this race finish behind the safety car.

Why would you think that? This isn't NASCAR, which is all about the show at all costs. Well, at least I thought it was different.

Anyway, F1 isn't going to do anything to change the results. The casual fans were thrilled watching a lion slaughter a cat with 2 broken legs there at the end. They'll just wait out the backlash just like the spa farce

Hate it when human officiating error decides sporting events.

 

[Roo]

Me, laps 1-51: There's no way this is going to last. Max is bound to win somehow.
Laps 52-58: There it is.

Congrats to Max, I guess, but the prospect of Horner, Marko and the Verstappens being smug all winter doesn't appeal.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

And once again they should not play the radio with Masi. It just seems like the teams are influencing the results by those conversations. Stahp

 

[mika haka]

Surely its tine the rules on the safety car is çhanged.

Laps done under the safety car shouldnt count

 

[Tired Tyres]

They can't void the race, they will consider what the result would have been of the correct rules were followed. That means they hand the win to Hamilton in all probability.

Not in a million years. The FIA has an unwritten Rule. Don't interfere with the World Championship. Oh wait.....

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Surely its tine the rules on the safety car is çhanged.

Laps done under the safety car shouldnt count

That would mess with the cars fuel usage projections, so they would have to factor in extra fuel.

 

[Famine]

Huh. Weird how it's always the low-value axe-grinders who pop their heads above the parapet.


Moving on.

They could’ve stopped him, and might have come out ahead of Verstappen

Verstappen was only 12s behind and Hamilton was the first to catch the SC. Mercedes weren't willing to put Hamilton potentially behind Verstappen because Verstappen would have tried to put him off the track. Again.

And had Max stayed out and been ahead of Lewis, then he would’ve been SWALLOWED, DESTROYED.

Right up to the point of being on track together, at which point... Verstappen would have tried to put him off the track. Again.

There was also no way of knowing when the SC would end. Many commentators said the race would finish under SC, in which case Hamilton pits from the lead for fresh rubber to tour around on Verstappen's gearbox at 70mph. The SC only ended when it did because Race Control broke its own regulations.

There was no way Verstappen would’ve won the championship, even if he decided to crash into Hamilton. That would’ve rendered him with a disqualification from the championship, and rightfully so.

Remind me what sanctions Verstappen has faced so far this season for forcing other cars off the track. As far as I can recall... the weird one in Saudi Arabia, maybe? Perez picked up more penalties for it in Austria alone.

Masi might have spoken a good game about points deductions and disqualifications, but the chances of it happening are plenty small enough for Verstappen to have decided it was worth the risk and... tried to put him off the track. Again.

I mean, he should have been disqualified in Saudi Arabia for the brake check. That was heinous - far worse than Schumacher's half-arsed block of Villeneuve, and that got him retroactively banned from an entire season.

But none of that happened, because Mercedes were caught sleeping when it mattered the most.

Mercedes have been arse with strategy across this entire season, but this one isn't it. In addition to all of the above, it took the decision based on Race Control's decision about the SC, which Race Control walked back (doubtless after pissy radio messages from Milton Keynes) four minutes later, breaking its own regulations on SC procedure.

Michael Masi, pictured on lap 58:

 

[McLaren]

Alonso saying the decision should've been done laps ago.


Lando not sure how to feel on the FIA's ending.


Daniel commenting cars can't pass, but some did, but he wasn't allowed to.

 

[PeterJB]

Having to wait endlessly for decisions on penalties after every session is doing my head in.

 

[EngieDiesel]

But did they have Ferrari and Monaco? 😉.

Let me put it to you this way, then: why would Ferrari walk away from a series where they're getting massive, ridiculous amounts of money just for participating? Why would Monaco walk away from the series that is the main reason anyone even remembers Monaco exists outside of a trivia question? And who exactly is going to supply the hundreds of millions of dollars required to create a competing series on the global level that Formula 1 operates at?

Ferrari and Monaco alone are not going to automatically make a better than F1, and if anything the rich boys' club going off and trying to start a blackjack-and-hookers series would just cause further damage from fragmentation and dilution, much like what happened with open wheel racing in North America. Formula 1 needs a complete scrutinizing and overhaul on both the operational and ethical levels, not a shallow slapfight with an upstart to distract from the real problems.

 

[Dreadmed]

Unfortunately they've ended the season in a facial manner that was totally avoidable.

Not the way you intended to phrase that statement I suspect, but the FIA/Masi do have plenty of egg on their face...

 

[PeterJB]

Another fun fact which I mentioned last weekend: Giovinazzi's retirement means Sainz is the only driver to finish every race this year.

 

[Dave A]

Not the way you intended to phrase that statement I suspect, but the FIA/Masi do have plenty of egg on their face...

Indeed, autocorrect doing its thing .

 

[Dennisch]

Looks like there will be a verdict in about half an hour.

 

[Famine]

Looks like there will be a verdict in about half an hour.

And whatever it is, it will be wrong. What a mess.

 

[Dave A]

Whatever it is it’ll get appealed by the losing team. A mess indeed. An easily avoidable mess as well.

Makes VAR in football look fantastic.

 

[Dennisch]

And whatever it is, it will be wrong. What a mess.

Tssk tssk.

They'll tell us that Masi resigned.

 

[JV82]

Thanks guys for this emotional great epic season!
Photos by www.racefans.net

 

[Blitz24]

There is literally nothing that can be done to "correct" this. The only things that can be done are to fix the rule system so this doesn't happen again (not just the lapped cars rule, but if a driver doesn't maintain pace following the SC or as the SC, he can be penalized) and Masi resigning.

 

[McLaren]

Jos congratulating his son after folks heard he was getting ready to leave the track 'til he heard what was going on....

 

[PeterJB]

Jordan appealed Jarno Trulli's disqualification from the United States Grand Prix in 2001 that cost them 5th in the constructors' and had his 4th place reinstated during the winter break, but that is nowhere near the scale of deciding entire championships in this way.

Is there any kind of clause under the grounds of "putting the sport into disrepute" that would be at play here?

 

[pumaATTACK]

Lewis also radioed that the SC wasn’t going the proper speed. Not sure if there’s any data on that but could have extended the window the get one last lap in.