[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by MontyB1

Michael Masi needs to consider his position. Both teams aren’t happy with him, his indecision and inconsistent guidance has been appalling all round this season.

For a sport that relies on clear rules, fractions of mm and precise everything things are descending into chaos under his rule. Charlie Whiting will be turning in his grave over this, the sport is sorely missing him.

Masi is between a rock and a hard place, the decision was taken to 'balance out' the previous anomalies against RB and pluses for Merc which were generous and a totting up process that's now seen in the cold light of day.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Artemis

May the best win !

Although FIA regulations don't allow it as a matter of principle (also because of the unforeseen implications on many levels) and most only want 1 winner, I secretly wished for the magic of what happened last Summer during the Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo - Men's High Jump.

Two athletes got ready to battle for the gold medal. Equal points. Mutaz Essa Barshim asked the jury member whether two gold medals were possible. The jury member confirmed. He immediately proposed it to his main rival Gianmarco Tamberi, who instantly accepted: both received a gold medal. Now that's a gesture of ultimate respect for each other.

Imagine for a moment Hamilton and Verstappen deciding to share the championship title. The water is way too deep between them, too much has happened, but why not ?

[MontyB1]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Masi is between a rock and a hard place, the decision was taken to 'balance out' the previous anomalies against RB and pluses for Merc which were generous and a totting up process that's now seen in the cold light of day.

That job is very difficult, but he is failing at many parts of it and that isn’t acceptable at this level of sport. Redbull and Mercedes have rightfully had issue with him and if he is in the same role next year I’d be staggered.

[M5Rick]

I would say that Masi has 'come about' and taking in Merc's appeal is now a spent shell for them, the horse has bolted before the stable door was shut.

[forza1976]

For the conspiracy theorists.

[Killed by Death]

Originally Posted by MontyB1

That job is very difficult, but he is failing at many parts of it and that isn’t acceptable at this level of sport. Redbull and Mercedes have rightfully had issue with him and if he is in the same role next year I’d be staggered.

Agreed, Masi has been awful this year and should be fired immediately. F1 needs a race director with a backbone.

Still loving the result today

That Silverstone karma is a bitch

And for all the personal attacks on M5Rick and ///M Power-Belgium all you hammy's can s**k it

[forza1976]

Originally Posted by Onesie

Funny coming from a Max fan…

Cheers

[BenDiem]

Can we all agree that LH is the epitome of a true role model for all people?
The way he accepted defeat and shook/hugged MV after the race, showed me what a class act LH really is. LH is all about the Team, good and fair sportsmanship, and level headedness. For all of his successes he has maintained a great sense of humility & continues to possess an unwavering foundation. I applaud his Groundedness…
MV is an entitled, arrogant, Self-serving, and ugly (in so many ways) human being.
There, I said it & I stand by what I perceive/witnessed throughout MV‘s entry into F1.
LH is the GOAT.
BTW, I‘m German, a man who was a Nico Rosberg fan over LH. In retrospect, I admit that I was wrong in choosing Nico over LH. Even Nico had some of MV‘s questionable personal qualities…
Cheers all,
B

[F87source]

Im not going to lie to you guys but this f1 race was drama packed and took so many twists and turns I don't even know what happened lol. The same thing with UFC 269 last night. So my weekend was insane.

[dmatre]

I heard that Rudy Guiliani and Sydney Powell are on a plane to Abu Dani with boxloads of evidence, to help Toto with overturning the championship.

[kring]

I suspect FIA dismissed Merc's protests so that they leave the entire bag of crap in Masi's hands even though it was wrong. He directly altered the outcome of the race that was entirely Hamilton's at that point. Hamilton won, full-stop. No way Max was catching him with 7 laps to go and 12.5 seconds behind unless Hamilton had bad luck with a crash all on his own, car had a major malfunction or the tires give out.

No one in their right mind can't argue this wasn't a fair end to a competition. The first 57 laps were fair and well played. the last lap were criminal. If you ignore any past history, the names involved... just objectively look at two drivers, one ahead by 28 seconds and 5 cars... and the 2nd place driver is allowed to pass 5 cars and wipe out a 28 second time deficit, and permit him at the end of lap 57 to pull right up next to the Hamilton with fresh tires... No excuse.

No rule book required for this one... Max didn't win, Hamilton didn't loose.... there was a mistake, and that mistake (Masi & FIA together) cost Hamilton the win, and gave Max a race he didn't win, and in-turn the championship went to Max.

Max is phenomenal and will have many more wins, but this one was given, not earned. Deep down I know he feels wronged all year long, so he'll justify this "luck" as the scales coming back to even and that he deserved a free win, but in that justification he also admits to himself he flat-out lost this race, he was thrashed by Hamilton and Max had no answer.

[Artemis]

First reaction of Bottas (after swearing) upon hearing that Hamilton had missed out on P1: "I knew, you know, we needed new tires, because..."

Hamilton's reaction: "this is manipulated, man"

[TheBingoBalls]

Season done. Unfortunately it was decided by a decision.

We'll all be here again next year and despite what happened today, MAFIA will still be a thing if Mercedes runs the table again in another era of F1 regulation and rule changes.

[dmatre]

Originally Posted by kring

I suspect FIA dismissed Merc's protests so that they leave the entire bag of crap in Masi's hands even though it was wrong. He directly altered the outcome of the race that was entirely Hamilton's at that point. Hamilton won, full-stop. No way Max was catching him with 7 laps to go and 12.5 seconds behind unless Hamilton had bad luck with a crash all on his own, car had a major malfunction or the tires give out.

No one in their right mind can't argue this wasn't a fair end to a competition. The first 57 laps were fair and well played. the last lap were criminal. If you ignore any past history, the names involved... just objectively look at two drivers, one ahead by 28 seconds and 5 cars... and the 2nd place driver is allowed to pass 5 cars and wipe out a 28 second time deficit, and permit him at the end of lap 57 to pull right up next to the Hamilton with fresh tires... No excuse.

No rule book required for this one... Max didn't win, Hamilton didn't loose.... there was a mistake, and that mistake (Masi & FIA together) cost Hamilton the win, and gave Max a race he didn't win, and in-turn the championship went to Max.

Max is phenomenal and will have many more wins, but this one was given, not earned. Deep down I know he feels wronged all year long, so he'll justify this "luck" as the scales coming back to even and that he deserved a free win, but in that justification he also admits to himself he flat-out lost this race, he was thrashed by Hamilton and Max had no answer.

Unfortunately, racing is part preparation, part skill, and part luck.

Max was the class of the field in Baku. Did he get ANY points? No. Luck.

Keep in mind that had Max not been punted in two consecutive races by Lewis and Valteri, the championship would have been locked up long before Abu Dabi. Again, luck.

Mercedes had the opportunity to pit under the first VSC, to cover Max, but apparently didn't trust their pit crew to keep the 6 second lead.

Admittedly, Lewis was the class of the field. But luck, and poor decisions from the pit wall, cost him this year.

[Aceway]

Fantastic ending! I didn't get to watch the race live but man even the highlights got my heart thumping at the end. A lot of controversy and I'm sure Mercedes fans maybe will put an asterisk on this championship or something. I can't wait for next year. Hamilton has at least two good years left.

[Killed by Death]

Originally Posted by BenDiem

Can we all agree that LH is the epitome of a true role model for all people?

LH is the GOAT.

B

NO, WE CAN'T!!!!

Role model? Role models aren't photographed in public wearing "Fuck Off" sweatshirts

I've never seen VER wearing one

GOAT scHAM is barely a 1 time champ without Mercedes!!! Niki whispered in his ear and hammy spent the next 8 years in a truly dominate team!

Carry on losers

Hammy snatched defeat from the jaws of victory

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

NO, WE CAN'T!!!!

Role model? Role models aren't photographed in public wearing "Fuck Off" sweatshirts

I've never seen VER wearing one

GOAT scHAM is barely a 1 time champ without Mercedes!!! Niki whispered in his ear and hammy spent the next 8 years in a truly dominate team!

Carry on losers

Hammy snatched defeat from the jaws of victory

Charmed I'm sure with that message on his sweat shirt.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

NO, WE CAN'T!!!!

Role model? Role models aren't photographed in public wearing "Fuck Off" sweatshirts

I've never seen VER wearing one

GOAT scHAM is barely a 1 time champ without Mercedes!!! Niki whispered in his ear and hammy spent the next 8 years in a truly dominate team!

Carry on losers

Hammy snatched defeat from the jaws of victory

Well thats a bit harsh...

Lewis was close to getting a championship with mclaren in his first year, and won in his second. So he was talented even in the beginning.

You can say the same thing about Max if you want to apply the same logic, he was barely a 1 time champion if the FIA didn't gift the win to him, and he only won because of redbull being dominant this year...


If you ask me how it is, I say no matter how good of a driver you are you cannot win without a good car. So it is a combination between the driver and the car neither can win without the other, and the best drivers always end up in the best teams so it works out in the end.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Charmed I'm sure with that message on his sweat shirt.

This !!!

[FormulaMMM]

Rewatched the conclusion of the race.

As suggested, lapped cars weren’t remotely part of Merc's thinking or strategy. They fully expected cars to unlap themselves and VER to be immediately behind HAM on softs. Listen to lap 55 radio between Bono and HAM. Merc knowingly opted for track position but tire disadvantage and expected that fight with VER.

From Red Bull –

That even if all cars that had been lapped (eight in total, of which five were allowed to overtake the safety car) it would not have changed the outcome of the race.

3 more lapped cars through wouldn’t have mattered. What is the counter-argument?

Sky Sports coverage of the initial directive to not allow lapped cars to unlap was totally flawed. Crofty and team presented it as a final ruling, in effect for the entirety of the race. Setting up the sense that Masi had changed his mind, made a political decision when they were then allowed through.

If the Sky team had been listening, when Horner radioed into Masi (lap 57) to question the lapped cars directive, Masi specifically said to “give me a second… my main big one is to get this incident clear.” In other words, the lapped cars situation and race conclusion was developing, not final.

Also worth noting from the race director:

The race director stated that the purpose of article 48.12 was to remove those lapped cars that would “interfere” in the racing between the leaders and that in his view article 48.13 was the one that applied in this case.

The race director also stated that it had long been agreed by all the teams that where possible it was highly desirable for the race to end in a “green” condition (i.e. not under a Safety Car).


Article 15.3 allows the race director discretion on safety car deployment and withdrawal. With the incident cleared, track safe & ready to go, one lap to go for the WDC, there's absolutely no better time for the race director to utilize his discretion to tell the safety car to get the hell out of the way.

[Blindside_137]

BOT was on one of his older power units right? You guys are too hard on him. He was a great team mate and had a sad ending to a great career at Mercedes. Good enough for consecutive constructor titles but not good enough to challenge Lewis.

Let's see how Russell does.

[kyrix1st]

Originally Posted by Bubbles

Are you aware of another race since the 90s (excluding weather) where lapped cars are embedded between race leaders. I’m not.

But I get your frustration. Yellow flags happen.

Red flags benefited Hammy significantly at least twice this year, but that’s the rules.

Ask hammy about Timo Glock and fortunate circumstances for his first WDC.

There was no race director call involving Timo Glock, not the same comparison.
Latifi crash was luck on Max’s part, but that’s as far as it goes it terms of similarities.

Unlapping only the 5 cars between Lewis and Max, nullifying every advantage Lewis had, was not Masi’s call to make.