Formula 1 2021 - General Discussion Thread (Read 1st post rules)

It was the right call to keep him out, keep track position with the expectation that the procedures that have been in place for years would be properly followed, meaning that it would be either ending under safety car or going green with 5 cars between the two. Not some contrived twist that M Night Shyamalan would be proud of. Masi himself said last year that ”There’s a requirement in the sporting regulations to wave all the lapped cars past” - not any, all.

This pretty much summarizes all my thoughts on the debacle

Disagree. I think casual fans found the drama amazing to be honest. My missus who has little or or interest was absolutely glued to the TV for the last 5 or 6 laps and was shouting for Max on the last lap to win. She now wants to go to a race next season. Happy days!

Sport is all about drama. Aguero last minute goal to win City the league, Henry handball against Ireland, Liverpool in Istanbul, Ben Johnson in Seoul 1988 etc. Drama in sport is what makes it memorable. Very weird to think otherwise.

Absolutely, but a sport that depends on drama contrived by officials decisions is in trouble.

That's not what happened. Masi wanted to finish the race not under SC and maybe that clouded his judgment somewhat. Add to that the whinging and moaning from Mercedes about the red flags in Saudi last week which was probably on his mind also.

Officials make errors in sport all the time and we don't say those are in trouble. Some of the most memorable sporting moments are where officials made bad calls or missed obvious issues (Maradona hand of god for example).

If you think Masi deliberately contrived it for Verstappen (not saying you but many here do) then we're firmly in the realm of conspiracy theories.

Absolutely! That sums it up in a nutshell.

All we know of what Horner said was why aren't we letting these lapped cars through - an obvious question from his POV. He didn't say to Masi to only put through the ones in front of Max.

I think it was a perfect storm of the pressure of a championship on the line, the desire to finish under green conditions (which all teams agreed was highly desirable) and the very recent Mercedes crying and moaning about red flags in Saudi that led to to the outcome.

Next year Team Principals should not be allowed to lobby the RD under any circumstances. Only a designated person on each team should be able to talk to the RD (not the TP) and not be allowed to lobby for particular decisions. The Sporting Regs need to be tidied up too as they are full of holes.

Anyone who says "they did it for TV" or "it was just for Netflix" don't appreciate that these guys are professionals and doing a job.

F1 has always been on TV. Netflix had nothing to do with Masi's actions.

Quote from Masi after the Eifel GP last year, explaining a long safety car period (https://www.motorsportweek.com/2020/10/13/masi-explains-reason-for-late-eifel-gp-safety-car/):

”There’s a requirement in the sporting regulations to wave all the lapped cars past,” Masi said.

And he has the power to override that rule. And all teams agreed to finish races under green flag conditions where possible. Masi made it possible that way.

Otherwise now everyone would be shouting at him "why didn't you try to end it under green flag conditions?!?"

Still has nothing to do with Netflix or TV.

Cool Christmas themed helmet.

I'd say it was interesting to learn about the Ferrari engine. He only drove Mercedes engines during the current engine formula.

The race director has power to use his discretion to use safety car in best interests of getting the race finished under race conditions.

That's why he did it I feel.

I can tell you I came very close to turning off the tv after max got by lewis at 1st corner and they allowed lewis to rejoin way up ahead without penalty.

If we had then gone on to finish the race with Hamilton protected by safety car to end while he is sitting there on cold old hard tyres, I would have certainly cancelled my subscription and closed the door on a lifetime of F1 viewing so certainly imo letting them race was the right answer.

Masi to be sure is not fit for purpose. The previous race was a shambles but I think he did the right thing here. He could probably have gotten all the lapped cars by in the same fashion with a bit of communication to all drivers.

There is a terrible piece in the Indo today. Must be written by someone who doesn't know F1. Claiming Hamilton was 12 seconds ahead and basically saying anything other than being 12 seconds clear after the safety car is an injustice. Hello, the safety car and it's strategy is a big part of F1 and Hamilton was on a risky strategy in that regard. Mercedes knew that too.

Anyone claiming injustice needs to look at the race as a whole and to be honest the season as a whole. Hamilton has had the better of all decisions around racing incidents all year long.

Max was out as well, still sporting 33 on the car. Would have thought they'd been keen to roll out '1' as soon as possible. He has confirmed that he'll be taking the number next year.