Poll: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021, Yas Island - Race 22

[pacegod]

It feels like Masi is employed Liberty Media to enchance the show, rather than his actual job with the FIA to be a Race Director and apply the rules of racing.
In less than 10 minutes, he has tainted a whole season of close racing. Shame on him.

 

[jaybee]

How do you get over that if you are Hamilton though. Your life's work....robbed. I feel bad for him. I went to watch it back and it doesn't anger me anymore, it fills me with complete sadness that it happened in the way it did.

 

[Vertigo]

How do you get over that if you are Hamilton though. Your life's work....robbed. I feel bad for him. I went to watch it back and it doesn't anger me anymore, it fills me with complete sadness that it happened in the way it did.

Hardly his life's work - he's still a seven-time world champion and has broken just about every other record there is.

 

[Slam62]

How do you get over that if you are Hamilton though. Your life's work....robbed. I feel bad for him. I went to watch it back and it doesn't anger me anymore, it fills me with complete sadness that it happened in the way it did.

What you do is come back and blow them away next year and the year after, it's the way he's made , you take a bit of time and then come back stronger than ever, everyone will see. You never give up until you can physically do no more. That's what makes it worthwhile and perceived unfairness whether correct or not spurs true fighters on.
When Lewis decides his time is up I expect George to step up, George is a tough cookie. Hopefully Lando will get bored not winning at some point and push himself to the next level to, he just needs to have more confidence. At the moment he doesn't really believe he should be winning, George does and will.

 

[koolpc]

I disagree. Wouldn’t matter to me who the drivers were or where in the championship it happened - I would view Masi’s actions as gross incompetence at best, or race fixing at worst. I feel that it has no place in the sport, particularly as Masi has an army of experienced people around him to offer wise counsel.

Theres lots wrong with F1, we all know it but this was so unprecedented and deals a body blow to the integrity of the sport. It strikes at the heart of the time honoured tradition of sport having rules, and rules that are there for a reason.

Thing is, Masi gets paid a fortune to be good at his job.

Whoever you personally support, do you feel Masi has done a good job?

Food for thought: if you were in a job and faced with a situation that was stressful and maybe out of your capability to manage would you A) defer to experienced colleagues or advisors and take their counsel? B) adhere to expected actions/behaviours based on documented procedures and 20 years of precedent? or C) Make something up on the spot and hope for the best?

Whether Max or Lewis are WDC makes no difference to me. I respect them both as racers, but genuinely don’t much like either of them, and my life goes on unchanged.

But I’m interested to hear whether you genuinely think Masi has done a good job and also what you would do in a difficult situation at work as outlined above.

Things need to change. Lots of conflicting decisions throughout 2021 season.

 

[Jono8]

Hardly his life's work - he's still a seven-time world champion and has broken just about every other record there is.

Should be the 8th (is in my eyes, not that it means much). subjective penalty calls on racing incidents, technical failures, punctures, mistakes etc are all part of being an F1 driver. You win some, you lose some.

Having the championship taken away from you by the race director after he made up a clearly absurd rule on the last lap of the championship to effectively give your rival the win is another thing altogether.

 

[koolpc]

Should be the 8th (is in my eyes, not that it means much). subjective penalty calls on racing incidents, technical failures, punctures, mistakes etc are all part of being an F1 driver. You win some, you lose some.

Having the championship taken away from you by the race director after he made up a clearly absurd rule on the last lap of the championship to effectively give your rival the win is another thing altogether.

He didnt make up the rule on the last lap! Check out the official statement.

 

[Kenai]

He didnt make up the rule on the last lap! Check out the official statement.

This has been discussed at length in this thread.

He objectively did make things up - what he did has no precedence in the rules and nor any that i'm aware of in previous races. The FIA have gone for (with little choice) the arse covering option of stretching the definition of another rule that defines the relative responsibilities of the race director vs the clerk of the course to mean 'the race director can do whatever he wants'.

 

[koolpc]

This has been discussed at length in this thread.

He objectively did make things up - what he did has no precedence in the rules and nor any that i'm aware of in previous races. The FIA have gone for (with little choice) the arse covering option of stretching the definition of another rule that defines the relative responsibilities of the race director vs the clerk of the course to mean 'the race director can do whatever he wants'.

After reading the statement by the stewards etc i disagree with you.

Check out the video posted earlier from Sky too.

 

[Kenai]

After reading the statement by the stewards etc i disagree with you.

With which bit?

 

[Jono8]

He didnt make up the rule on the last lap! Check out the official statement.

He clearly did. There is no such protocol or rule to only let some cars unlap themselves and some not, because that is clearly a ridiculous thing to do and intensely unfair on those not allowed to unlap, or those still stuck behind unlapped cars (whilst others are not).

There also isn't a rule stating that Masi can't play the macarena to all the competitors through their radio when he sees fit either.

Rules cannot cover every possible thing that could or could not happen or every possible thing the race director is or isnt allowed to do. It defines how things are meant to work, and Masi just decided to change how it works on the final lap of the title decider, undoing Merc's strategy (which was based on the actual rules), confusing most of the drivers and teams, and handing the title to Max.

 

[Jono8]

After reading the statement by the stewards etc i disagree with you.

Check out the video posted earlier from Sky too.

There is nothing to disagree about. You and some of the media are making this out to be some sort of difference in opinion, when it is most assuredly not.

It is the same as arguing that the sun isn't hot, and this is why this event is so serious. This isn't a poor judgement call or a bad interpretation of a racing incident. It is a deliberate fabrication of the result due to making up a brand new rule on the spot.

 

[Scam]

I don't think anyone in the modern history of f1 has driven the way Max did in the second half of the season and basically got of so lightly. F1 has lost its way this season.

Well said. I'll continue to correct people who say daft things like "they both deserved it". I don't think Max deserved it at all, he's a cheater with delusions of grandeur consistently enabled by a toxic team, toxic family around him, and woeful administration by the FIA and Masi.

, it fills me with complete sadness that it happened in the way it did.

I am super sad for Lewis. I hope this year will be remembered as the year he was robbed of his eighth. I also hope the only good thing to come of this would be for him to come back next year and completely own it. Max down in the midfield would make me lol so hard. Second coming of Christ, my ****! The way he's been talked up by pundits and journos has been ridiculous.

 

[koolpc]

MM could decide how to act regarding the safety car. People need to look at the rules properly.

Just because it wasnt done that way before, doesnt mean it couldnt be done that way legally.

 

[koolpc]

Well said. I'll continue to correct people who say daft things like "they both deserved it". I don't think Max deserved it at all, he's a cheater with delusions of grandeur consistently enabled by a toxic team, toxic family around him, and woeful administration by the FIA and Masi.

I am super sad for Lewis. I hope this year will be remembered as the year he was robbed of his eighth. I also hope the only good thing to come of this would be for him to come back next year and completely own it. Max down in the midfield would make me lol so hard. Second coming of Christ, my ****! The way he's been talked up by pundits and journos has been ridiculous.

Max is a superb driver. I like his style.

If Ham was like that you would be loving it!

 

[Kenai]

MM could decide how to act regarding the safety car. People need to look at the rules properly.

Just because it wasnt done that way before, doesnt mean it couldnt be done that way legally.

If you're happy to buy into that logic, then I won't argue.

That approach to interpretation effectively renders half the rest of the regulations completely redundant and would be an entirely bizarre type of clause to have (with that intention) but I can't see we're likely to change your viewpoint on that.

 

[mjt]

MM could decide how to act regarding the safety car. People need to look at the rules properly.

Just because it wasnt done that way before, doesnt mean it couldnt be done that way legally.

But how was that fair on Sainz? He had two backmarkers between him and Lewis. Sainz could’ve finished 2nd if they had unlapped themselves as well..

Also, the safety car is supposed to do another lap. It’s all such BS.
Sorry, but it’s indefensible.

 

[Scam]

Max is a superb driver. I like his style.

If Ham was like that you would be loving it!

What about his style exactly? Running people off the road? Brake testing people? Weaving?

If Hamilton did that I wouldn't be a fan.

 

[Mr Men]

You do realise that lewis took him straight away and Perez only got back in front due to DRS right?

He still defended better than Lewis did.

 

[Kenai]

He still defended better than Lewis did.

It's almost like worn softs vs new hards with DRS involved creates a very different scenario with a very different relative performance gap to worn hards vs new softs and no DRS!