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It's understandable that the F1 team would be upset, but not sending their F1 title winning car to the FIA prize ceremony that recognizes the best manufacturers has nothing to do with Masi.
Not having Hamilton there (Article 6.6: The drivers finishing first, second and third in the Championship must be present at the annual FIA Prize Giving ceremony.) with Toto not attending while Bottas does, shows leadership deficiencies at a global company like Mercedes. No bueno.
Originally Posted by Veloce Raptor
Absolute lack of class and leadership.
Originally Posted by Nizer
Pure lack of character and a sad example of how to behave in defeat for young fans.
but again: does anyone know what the rule is about letting lapped cars pass the SC?
You can find the rule book on line. In the explanation of the ruling, the FIA cited several parts of the rules. Some of the argument hinges on the wording about "...any car that is lapped..." which may or may not be the same as if they had written "ALL" lapped cars. Short version, despite the article that talks about unlapping cars and that the Safety Car comes in the NEXT lap, they cited another article of the regs that leaves full discretion of the Safety Car to the Race Director, so you could interpret that as yes, the race director can kind of do as he pleases.
an awful lot of this year comes down to if you are a HAM or a VER fan, it's maddening to read the extremes on both sides. F1 needs to tighten up the consistency of the stewards decisions across the board.
I'm fine with Max winning. And I think Lewis is an awesome driver, deserving of all he's won.
Lewis was very gracious post race. Toto, on the other hand, a rich whining a-hole.
The opening story for next year's season is well written! That's racing.
edit: never mind. I didn't know about the awards thing.
Lastly, I will say that while I have always been a huge fan of Hamilton’s driving, and less a fan of some of his political positions, I do think he showed a TREMENDOUS amount of class at the end of the race. He showed a tremendous amount of maturity and I think he earned himself many converts. It was hard not to feel sorry for him. In the end I think he was just unlucky.
No it did not age well and rather than winning over converts, it just reinforced what we've seen over and over again during a 15 year career. It's unfortunate because we've seen a change from someone like Fernando Alonso over his career as well as Sebastian, but Lewis is still the same old Lewis.
More "hammer time" to be bestowed upon Lewis Hamilton by new FIA president.
New FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says Lewis Hamilton can be given "no forgiveness" if he is found to have breached Formula 1's rules in missing the annual prize-giving gala.
More "hammer time" to be bestowed upon Lewis Hamilton by new FIA president.
New FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says Lewis Hamilton can be given "no forgiveness" if he is found to have breached Formula 1's rules in missing the annual prize-giving gala.
The FIA has been an embarrassment to motorsport for a long time. They are stuck between leveling the playing field and maximizing the financial returns for the most powerful team owners lest they leave the sport. Hamilton winning an eighth championship under a yellow would have elicited a yawn. IMHO Masi decided to stretch, and exceed, the discretion he had under the rules to manage the safety car so that the race would not end under a yellow flag once he saw the track was clear. The statement that "any" lapped car needs to be allowed to return to the correct order does not mean "all" lapped cars is just self serving gibberish from Horner. Masi has also been under constant pressure by radio during races both by Toto and Horner so I am glad that there appears to be a serious effort to prevent any team principal from attempting to change his decisions during races to benefit their team. I also understand that Masi is under pressure to resign, or take a different FIA position than Race Director for badly fumbling the race end. Some informed sources believe that this was agreed to get Mercedes to end what would have been an embarrassment for F1 and the FIA. Regardless, the rules should be updated, including this situation and also how and where drivers may give back positions, to prevent another unsafe situation as happened on lap 42 in Saudi Arabia. I expect the rules will be in better shape when in 2026 Porsche or Audi or VW enter F1.
The FIA has been an embarrassment to motorsport for a long time. They are stuck between leveling the playing field and maximizing the financial returns for the most powerful team owners lest they leave the sport. Hamilton winning an eighth championship under a yellow would have elicited a yawn. IMHO Masi decided to stretch, and exceed, the discretion he had under the rules to manage the safety car so that the race would not end under a yellow flag once he saw the track was clear. The statement that "any" lapped car needs to be allowed to return to the correct order does not mean "all" lapped cars is just self serving gibberish from Horner. Masi has also been under constant pressure by radio during races both by Toto and Horner so I am glad that there appears to be a serious effort to prevent any team principal from attempting to change his decisions during races to benefit their team. I also understand that Masi is under pressure to resign, or take a different FIA position than Race Director for badly fumbling the race end. Some informed sources believe that this was agreed to get Mercedes to end what would have been an embarrassment for F1 and the FIA. Regardless, the rules should be updated, including this situation and also how and where drivers may give back positions, to prevent another unsafe situation as happened on lap 42 in Saudi Arabia. I expect the rules will be in better shape when in 2026 Porsche or Audi or VW enter F1.
I wonder if the teams lobbied Charlie Whiting like this and if there was a little more respect for his decisions.
More "hammer time" to be bestowed upon Lewis Hamilton by new FIA president.
New FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says Lewis Hamilton can be given "no forgiveness" if he is found to have breached Formula 1's rules in missing the annual prize-giving gala.
I wonder if the teams lobbied Charlie Whiting like this and if there was a little more respect for his decisions.
Whiting was in charge for so long that he outlasted all the others, ie Enzo, Briatore, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan etc. He had a type of irreverent respect from all the youngins' and commanded that respect. It was going to be difficult to fill his shoes after the sudden and unexpected passing of Charlie so what I suspect is Horner and Toto pushed him as much as they could to get their way.
Masi is most likely over his head and perhaps someone can step into that role that has some gravitas (Ross Brawn) for a very short time while grooming a person for the long haul.
12-17-2021, 08:57 AM
