2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina, Dec 10 - 12

[PlatinumZealot]

Fifty pages too late. That's a repost.

[DiogoBrand]

How can everyone bring up Baku, Silverstone, and Hungary and ignore Spa, Brazil (and let's be real, he should have been penalized at Barcelona too), and Saudi Arabia?

The fact is, both drivers got away with decisions going their way all year.

Masi also should have been canned for Spa alone. What a farce that was.

[Fairplay]

Not from me, I would have liked to see Sainz win!

As soon as Mercedes followed Red Bulls lead by putting earlier than they needed to they ended up condemning LH to a race where he couldn’t get the lead that he needed; MV was ALWAYS in his pit-window.

This has been covered, you might not agree with the responses but to bring it up again is either to annoy posters or distract. Also it’s pretty boring now, especially when there is new information from the FIA.

You are right - on and on and on and on and on and on and on as boring as my post and incorrect into the bargain.

[Ryar]

The FIA literally posted a press release today which is relevant to this race, this thread and the current situation. Some of us were discussing it before the wave of "hey stop discussing it" people arrived. Where else should we be discussing this stuff?

Isn't there a difference between discussing a topic and repeating 10 pages 20 times of a dead lock scenario?

[dans79]

The FIA literally posted a press release today which is relevant to this race, this thread and the current situation. Some of us were discussing it before the wave of "hey stop discussing it" people arrived. Where else should we be discussing this stuff?

Isn't there a difference between discussing a topic and repeating 10 pages 20 times of a dead lock scenario?

What the FIA announced today, is new and thus makes some of the previous discussions outdated.

[ispano6]

Bad luck when the sporting regulations are followed is one thing. Tyre blowouts and racing incidents will always happen, and over a season things tend to even out more or less. If they don’t, then tough luck. However, there is no luck or karma involved when race control decides to break their own rules. It’s cheating. And Red Bull had no gamble to make, since there was no other option than to pit for fresh tyres since they had nothing to lose by doing so. He was allowed to fight Hamilton on one lap old softs compared to 40 lap old hards. Maldonado could jump into the car and make that move stick without practice. There is no contest. Red Bull were gifted a race they had no business winning, since they were nowhere on pace compared to Hamiton, and had the SC rules been followed, there would be no chance for them. I can’t understand how it can ”feel right” with such an obvious staging of a race, no matter what side you are on.

Maldonado has nothing to do with this, yes it was a gamble, and who are you accusing of cheating? It was tough luck, but just not for Max. It's not Max's fault Hamilton was on old hards, that's his team's decision! There was an element of risk vs reward and Mercedes quite honestly chickened out. If they had fitted softs for Hamilton his superior pace surely would have seen him win. Sometimes it isn't the fastest car that wins and we've seen that all season. For Mercedes it was disaster-class!

[holeindalip]

Bad luck when the sporting regulations are followed is one thing. Tyre blowouts and racing incidents will always happen, and over a season things tend to even out more or less. If they don’t, then tough luck. However, there is no luck or karma involved when race control decides to break their own rules. It’s cheating. And Red Bull had no gamble to make, since there was no other option than to pit for fresh tyres since they had nothing to lose by doing so. He was allowed to fight Hamilton on one lap old softs compared to 40 lap old hards. Maldonado could jump into the car and make that move stick without practice. There is no contest. Red Bull were gifted a race they had no business winning, since they were nowhere on pace compared to Hamiton, and had the SC rules been followed, there would be no chance for them. I can’t understand how it can ”feel right” with such an obvious staging of a race, no matter what side you are on.

Maldonado has nothing to do with this, yes it was a gamble, and who are you accusing of cheating? It was tough luck, but just not for Max. It's not Max's fault Hamilton was on old hards, that's his team's decision! There was an element of risk vs reward and Mercedes quite honestly chickened out. If they had fitted softs for Hamilton his superior pace surely would have seen him win. Sometimes it isn't the fastest car that wins and we've seen that all season. For Mercedes it was disaster-class!

We’ve been over this, if merc pitted Red Bull would’ve stayed out, then it would of finished under a sc and looked like fools for giving up track position

[selvam_e2002]

Bad luck when the sporting regulations are followed is one thing. Tyre blowouts and racing incidents will always happen, and over a season things tend to even out more or less. If they don’t, then tough luck. However, there is no luck or karma involved when race control decides to break their own rules. It’s cheating. And Red Bull had no gamble to make, since there was no other option than to pit for fresh tyres since they had nothing to lose by doing so. He was allowed to fight Hamilton on one lap old softs compared to 40 lap old hards. Maldonado could jump into the car and make that move stick without practice. There is no contest. Red Bull were gifted a race they had no business winning, since they were nowhere on pace compared to Hamiton, and had the SC rules been followed, there would be no chance for them. I can’t understand how it can ”feel right” with such an obvious staging of a race, no matter what side you are on.

Maldonado has nothing to do with this, yes it was a gamble, and who are you accusing of cheating? It was tough luck, but just not for Max. It's not Max's fault Hamilton was on old hards, that's his team's decision! There was an element of risk vs reward and Mercedes quite honestly chickened out. If they had fitted softs for Hamilton his superior pace surely would have seen him win. Sometimes it isn't the fastest car that wins and we've seen that all season. For Mercedes it was disaster-class!

We’ve been over this, if merc pitted Red Bull would’ve stayed out, then it would of finished under a sc and looked like fools for giving up track position

Perfect. If Mercedes pitted, RB stayed out... the race will finish under safety care. Then the RB will say all the rules are followed.

I bet the incident caused by Williams, may be pre planned.

Any way RB and MAX will get the WDC whatever out come of the race. It is "Match Fixed" well in advance.

[Sulman]

Maldonado has nothing to do with this, yes it was a gamble, and who are you accusing of cheating? It was tough luck, but just not for Max. It's not Max's fault Hamilton was on old hards, that's his team's decision! There was an element of risk vs reward and Mercedes quite honestly chickened out. If they had fitted softs for Hamilton his superior pace surely would have seen him win. Sometimes it isn't the fastest car that wins and we've seen that all season. For Mercedes it was disaster-class!

We’ve been over this, if merc pitted Red Bull would’ve stayed out, then it would of finished under a sc and looked like fools for giving up track position

Perfect. If Mercedes pitted, RB stayed out... the race will finish under safety care. Then the RB will say all the rules are followed.

I bet the incident caused by Williams, may be pre planned.

Any way RB and MAX will get the WDC whatever out come of the race. It is "Match Fixed" well in advance.

I just don't believe in a conspiracy. It's much more likely to be 'Hanlon's Razor'. Masi --- up, all the holes in the swiss cheese lined up, and we got a disaster. It is just a question of 'what now'?

[ringo]

Masi did not mess up. I think he did not intend to give Max an unfair advantage at the SC.

[101FlyingDutchman]

Masi did not mess up. I think he did not intend to give Max an unfair advantage at the SC. It was not in his mind maybe. But the thought entered his mind when Horner called him.
He is smart enough to know that if he could ger Max right behind Lewis on new tyres Max can easily pass.
The consipiracy is easy to prove. It may not be planned before the race started but it was definitely a eureka moment for masi after Horner called.
I would need to look at the Latifi crash again to determine if he binned it on purpose.

Wow. Just wow. That reaches new heights. Congrats, ignored from now on. Just sad to see people do this on a technical forum

[Ryar]

The FIA literally posted a press release today which is relevant to this race, this thread and the current situation. Some of us were discussing it before the wave of "hey stop discussing it" people arrived. Where else should we be discussing this stuff?

Isn't there a difference between discussing a topic and repeating 10 pages 20 times of a dead lock scenario?

What the FIA announced today, is new and thus makes some of the previous discussions outdated.

FIA's announcment, as outlined below, is a retrospective exercise to improve the future events and clarify the misunderstanding. Yeah, misunderstanding. It doesn't necessarily mean, either FIA agrees someone has been wronged or that this exercise that it is planning, would have an impact on the results of concluded event. There is no timeline set for this exercise to either start or end, atleast as per the announcement. So, this doesn't sound like having any bearing on what is being anticipated by fans. That still leaves my point on the table regarding repitation of 10 pages 20 times, without any new information that has the possibility of altering the past.

“The circumstances surrounding the use of the Safety Car following the incident of driver Nicholas Latifi, and the related communications between the FIA Race Direction team and the Formula 1 teams, have notably generated significant misunderstanding and reactions from Formula 1 teams, drivers and fans – an argument that is currently tarnishing the image of the Championship and the due celebration of the first Drivers’ World Championship title won by Max Verstappen and the eighth consecutive Constructors’ World Championship title won by Mercedes.

“Following the presentation of a report regarding the sequence of events that took place following the incident on lap 53 of the grand prix and in a constant drive for improvement, the FIA President proposed to the World Motor Sport Council that a detailed analysis and clarification exercise for the future with all relevant parties will now take place.

“This matter will be discussed and addressed with all the teams and drivers to draw any lessons from this situation and clarity to be provided to the participants, media and fans about the current regulations to preserve the competitive nature of our sport while ensuring the safety of the drivers and officials.

“It is not only Formula 1 that may benefit from this analysis but also more generally all the other FIA circuit championships.

“Following that presentation and an extensive discussion, the World Council has decided to unanimously support the President’s proposal.

“The FIA will therefore do its utmost to have this in motion within the Formula 1 governance and will propose to the Formula 1 Commission to give a clear mandate for study and proposal to the Sporting Advisory Committee, with the support of Formula 1 drivers, so any identified meaningful feedback and conclusions be made before the beginning of the 2022 season.”

[ringo]

Do you think the FIA are going to admit that they manipulated the results of their own event.

[Ryar]

Do you think the FIA are going to admit that they manipulated the results of their own event.

Manipulation is an accusation. If FIA feels they did it right, they have every resaon to stick to their decision. So they would treat it as a misunderstanding on fans' part.

[Roo]

Do you think the FIA are going to admit that they manipulated the results of their own event.

Manipulation is an accusation. If FIA feels they did it right, they have every resaon to stick to their decision. So they would treat it as a misunderstanding on fans' part.

You mean FIA President, Jean Todt, decided to use the word misunderstandings without further explaination. Misunderstandings that needs discussing and addressing with all the teams and drivers, and within a few days they called together the world motor sport council to ratify Jena Todts conclusion, that is FIA President, the Deputy President for Sport, 7 Vice-Presidents, 14 titular members and 5 members who meet only 4 times a year. So Jean Todt may have ratified his own decision.
https://www.fia.com/world-motor-sport-council

There is zero independance of the WMSD. This looks more off, and showing how out of date the FIA structure is.

The FIA acting like it’s the 1980s.