The 2021 Formula One Thread

[Backspin]

Still having a hard time processing this. I didn't watch the race. How. How the hell did Max win.

Ah well. Merc has lodged a protest. It's not over yet

[harrybarracuda]

Mercedes have lodged two protests. One of them must be the breach of rules and the other one is probably to ask why a witless fuck like Masi ever got the job.

[harrybarracuda]

Make that two rules breached.

Masi must be shitting himself.

[harrybarracuda]

Toto and the boys enter the stewards room. I think they're wasting their time but LET'S GET READY TO RUUUUUMMMMBBBBLLLLEEEE!

[helge]

Have a pint of bitter with your sour grapes.

Skål !

[Backspin]

The rules state "ANY lapped cars may overtake" not ALL cars. Plus Masi is the dictator. This isn't a democracy. What he does stands.

Who's the Karen now ?

[Norton]

What a fucking season that was.

I was going to say it will be even closer next year, but it all boiled down to one lap.

Sure was a great season. Grats to both Max and Lewis. Gave us a good show.

[Norton]

Toto and the boys enter the stewards room. I think they're wasting their time but LET'S GET READY TO RUUUUUMMMMBBBBLLLLEEEE!

The party is over and thankfully the outcome on the track stands.

[bsnub]

Snubby turned off the TV and missed that finish! What a twat.

I did. Waking up to that result had my head spinning. Unreal, but in the end it balanced out for the injustice on the first lap.

[Troy]

Well done mad max...

...certainly added some excitement to the racing this year.

[harrybarracuda]

Not shocked that the FIA protected an egregious abuse of their own rules to make good TV.

I hope Mercedes take it to CAS if only to force them to sack the incompetent Masi. He's clearly out of his depth and has been all season.

[Backspin]

Imagine if the race had finished under the safety car despite there having been a clear track at Turn 14 for two full laps, all because the final part of a paragraph in one the safety car regulations articles says "once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap".

Michael Masi did the right thing to restart the race with the lapped cars out of the way.

[harrybarracuda]

There is a kind of precedent here:

Graham Poll once gave the same player two yellow cards in a World Cup match, and didn't send him off until he gave him a third.

The result stood, but he was told to resign or be fired. He chose to quit.

I think if FIA admitted there was a mistake but said the result stood, and Masi fucked off as he should do, Mercedes would probably take it on the chin.

This feeble effort by FIA to protect his incompetence is what probably rankles.

As I said, if Masi had simply red flagged the session, you would have had three laps of racing with a standing start, and with the main contenders on the same tyres, thus the result wouldn't look so rigged.

[bsnub]

As I said, if Masi had simply red flagged the session, you would have had three laps of racing with a standing start, and with the main contenders on the same tyres, thus the result wouldn't look so rigged.

I would have supported that, but to me this is vindication. Max dominated this season, he led the most laps and had the most wins. If Bottas did not take him out in Hungry, the championship would have been sealed up before Abu Dhabi.

This title was well-earned and legit.

[harrybarracuda]

I would have supported that, but to me this is vindication. Max dominated this season, he led the most laps and had the most wins. If Bottas did not take him out in Hungry, the championship would have been sealed up before Abu Dhabi.

This title was well-earned and legit.

This isn't vindication for anything.

Without Masi's change of the published rules mid-race, it would have finished under a safety car and Hamilton would have number 8.

As dull as that is, it has happened many times before and that's how the rules are supposed to go.

Masi fixed the result, it's as simple as that.

Through incompetence I suspect, rather than nefariousness, but it's true nonetheless.

None of this is a criticism of Max, he had to be in there to take advantage of the "error" and earned his win under Masi's "revised rules".


(I put nefariousness in there because I know skidmark will have to go and look it up).

[Backspin]

^ Fixed ? Haha. It was a one lap shootout. Hamilton had the power and pole advantage. And he still almost got him back on the straight

[harrybarracuda]

Ooops....

....more scrutiny is likely to fall on Masi with his decision starkly contrasting his stance taken at the Eifel Grand Prix In Germany, back in October 2020.
In that race, McLaren driver Lando Norris was left in a precarious position after a power unit issue prompted smoke and fire to come from his car, and Masi was later criticised for ordering a safety car and then allowing it to stay out for a prolonged period.

”There’s a requirement in the sporting regulations to wave all the lapped cars past,” he later told Motorsport Week.

Unearthed Michael Masi quotes show Lewis Hamilton decision went against F1 chief's rules - Mirror Online

[harrybarracuda]

The talk seems to be that Sir Lewis doesn't want Mercedes to appeal for the good of the sport.
The talk is also that Liberty are really pissed off with the negative publicity, and will probably want a full investigation before they start trying to sell next year's F1 subscriptions. This might involve Masi moving on.

[Backspin]

Masi did the right thing.

F1 is not a constitutional operation. It's not about how the rules are written. It's a dictatorship. The director has discretion. So it's not Masi that is causing negativity. It's butthurt fanbois.

[Troy]

The talk seems to be that Sir Lewis doesn't want Mercedes to appeal for the good of the sport.

This...

Time to look forward to 2022.

[malmomike77]

Time to look forward to 2022.

Indeed.

Its less than ideal for a season outcome to hinge on a technicality but it is what it is. Perhaps the FIA should reflect how the season has been tainted by controversy in its application of its own rules. Almost every race was influenced by regulations as much as driver skill and that can't be healthy for the sport or enjoyment of spectators.

[bsnub]

This isn't vindication for anything.

Max dominated this season. He deserves the championship.

[Troy]

^



Clearly you're in need of a decent breakfast...

[bsnub]

Clearly you're in need of a decent breakfast...

I think you have the wrong thread.

[harrybarracuda]

This...

Time to look forward to 2022.

Thread's already open.

The 2022 Formula 1 Thread