The F1 thread

stickyfiddle

Cols said:

stickyfiddle said:

Latifi has stepped away from the socials after a multitude of death threats following the AD race. Poor sod.

As for the Spa thing, I hope any circuits negotiating new deals ask for something to fix this sort of shit if F1 can't manage to put on a show. Maybe they just need a bunch of roadgoing cars that the drivers can be given that works in the wet. I'd be quite happy to see them in a grid full of 911s or Lotuses...!

I can remember Nico Rosberg giving his opinion on how to decide the starting grid after torrential rain at one of the Far East Grand Prix cancelled qualifying.

”Easy”, he said.  “Everyone gets one lap in the safety car from a standing start.  Fastest guy takes pole.”

The lack of refunds for Spa is disappointing, but pretty much as expected.  The whole objective of the farce was to ensure that the money ended up in the right pockets at the end of the weekend.  The FIA get their race fee, the teams get their starting money and Liberty gets their TV money.  

Agree with all of this. 

Rosberg can be a bit of a knob but I like him a lot - he's rarely wrong imo and the one TV guy who is really happy to say whatever he thinks with no fucks given.

Cols

Hamilton has indicated that he won’t to decide whether or not to continue in F1 until he sees Masi’s head on a spike the results of the FIA’s inquiry.   

Given the following “nothing to see here” section in the FIA’s post-race announcement of the inquiry, I’m betting Toto’s got his cheque book ready and a bunch of drivers on speed dial.

“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.”

The new FIA president has been left with a hell of a ticking time bomb.

Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes driver to decide on F1 future after Abu Dhabi inquiry https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/59951382

Emiel

Hamilton hasn't said anything publicly since he left Abu Dhabi. It's just the (British) media trying to stir things up again...

thumpingrug

I think people forget that Lewis goes dark on most social media at the end of most seasons.  He ha a habit of disappearing to rest, get fit and recharge for the next season.  He has a contract and Im willing to bet that he will turn up in February ready for testing.

chillidoggy

Irrespective of the media twaddle, Hamster still has unfinished business. He'll be back next year.

goldtop

I hope so. I also hope that the FIA solution to the Abu Dhabi debacle isn't simply the firing of Masi - especially if it's what the FIA thinks that LH wants. No-one is bigger than the sport. 

Teetonetal

goldtop said:

I hope so. I also hope that the FIA solution to the Abu Dhabi debacle isn't simply the firing of Masi - especially if it's what the FIA thinks that LH wants. No-one is bigger than the sport. 

The issue for me, is that if Massi is fired due to incorrectly handling the race, then it basically means the FIA agree that we had the wrong world champion last year, 

I would much prefer that the outcome is due to a range of improvements to ensure that decisions are not influenced by teams and that decisions are applied correctly based on the rule book and not dependant on a single person.

Haych

If Masi worked for any other organisation and made a decision that brought the organisation into as much controversy and disrepute as he's done to the FIA, he'd already be gone.

Even if Lewis wants him gone it shouldn't be an obstacle to firing him if it's the right decision to make.

Unfortunately, it's seen a a political problem and is being handled in a political way with the FIA trying to save face and save Masi at the same time.

The FIA should swallow some pride and admit that it was a cock up, get rid of Masi and move on, a lot of the posturing would simply cease at that point and the FIA might even garner some respect and credibility again.

stickyfiddle

Teetonetal said:

goldtop said:

I hope so. I also hope that the FIA solution to the Abu Dhabi debacle isn't simply the firing of Masi - especially if it's what the FIA thinks that LH wants. No-one is bigger than the sport. 

The issue for me, is that if Massi is fired due to incorrectly handling the race, then it basically means the FIA agree that we had the wrong world champion last year, 

I would much prefer that the outcome is due to a range of improvements to ensure that decisions are not influenced by teams and that decisions are applied correctly based on the rule book and not dependant on a single person.

Agreed. They can't be seen to overrule Masi. They'd be much better off doing a detailed review to remove ambiguities in the rulebook and put a support team in place "to help decisions get made quickly" (and by implication, correctly). 

chillidoggy

For Masi to be simply thrown under the bus right now won't demonstrate that the FIA has done anything professional. Their promised investigation needs to be conducted, and any decisions on what course of action to take made after the results are known. The FIA management cannot be seen as 'hiring and firing' without good reason.

Simonh

There are no ambiguities in the rule book around how safety cars are handled.

Masi needs to go not just for abu dhabi but for the catalogue of errors throughout the year.

Cols

chillidoggy said:

For Masi to be simply thrown under the bus right now won't demonstrate that the FIA has done anything professional. Their promised investigation needs to be conducted, and any decisions on what course of action to take made after the results are known. The FIA management cannot be seen as 'hiring and firing' without good reason.

“One senior source told BBC Sport that Mercedes had dropped their appeal against the results of the race after agreeing a quid pro quo with the FIA.

This deal was said to be that Masi and FIA head of single-seater technical matters Nikolas Tombazis would no longer be in their positions for the 2022 season.”

I suspect this is true, and that the FIA are looking for an elegant way of shuffling Masi out of the role of Race Director without actually admitting any wrongdoing.  Merc will be content with this as it will be generally viewed as a tacit admission of guilt.  They knew the DWC was out of reach, but at least wanted someone’s head on a spike to make it obvious that the title was manipulated into Max’s hands.

chillidoggy

Cols said:

chillidoggy said:

For Masi to be simply thrown under the bus right now won't demonstrate that the FIA has done anything professional. Their promised investigation needs to be conducted, and any decisions on what course of action to take made after the results are known. The FIA management cannot be seen as 'hiring and firing' without good reason.

“One senior source told BBC Sport that Mercedes had dropped their appeal against the results of the race after agreeing a quid pro quo with the FIA.

This deal was said to be that Masi and FIA head of single-seater technical matters Nikolas Tombazis would no longer be in their positions for the 2022 season.”

I suspect this is true, and that the FIA are looking for an elegant way of shuffling Masi out of the role of Race Director without actually admitting any wrongdoing.  Merc will be content with this as it will be generally viewed as a tacit admission of guilt.  They knew the DWC was out of reach, but at least wanted someone’s head on a spike to make it obvious that the title was manipulated into Max’s hands.

Yup.

TimmyO

I don’t believe that it was “manipulated into Max’s hands” deliberately - but I do believe that in an epic failure of judgement it was manipulated into not finishing behind the safety car whatever it took to achieve that, and whatever that in turn resulted in. 

Veering into making-Max-win conspiracy only makes it harder for the core problems to be addressed. IMO etc. 

Simonh

I don't think it is any great secret that liberty wanted a new WDC or at the very least a stronger challenge to the merc dominance that we have had recently. I also don't think it is a stretch to say that Masi will have been aware of this and consciously or not this may well have coloured his decision making process.

Teetonetal

Simonh said:

I don't think it is any great secret that liberty wanted a new WDC or at the very least a stronger challenge to the merc dominance that we have had recently. I also don't think it is a stretch to say that Masi will have been aware of this and consciously or not this may well have coloured his decision making process.

It's also not inconceivable that Massi was given very clear guidance on  what was expected of him in this regard.. though I suspect if that was true, then it would have been leaked by now.

menamestom

chillidoggy said:

Irrespective of the media twaddle, Hamster still has unfinished business. He'll be back next year.

Richard Hammond is taking Hamilton’s seat??

Brio

I always thought it was Richard Gere’s seat the hamster was after...



 

euan

The issue is for a lot of what Masi does there is no one better. The succession planning for the most important role in F1 safety was a failure to begin with. Admittedly the failure wasn’t the FIA’s fault as Whiting dying while mentoring Masi wasn’t exactly predictable, but it shouldn’t have just been Masi and it should have started a long time before. 

Masi is really good at the safety element and organisational running of the event. The amount of new or returning tracks is unprecedented in the modern era, especially within the context of Covid. Combined with triple headers he has had one of the most gruelling jobs in the FIA.

People like to gravitate towards a conspiracy, but the reality is that the man has too much to do and seemingly without much help from the FIA. Replacing him will not fix issues going forward, and really only create many more especially in the biggest ever season of F1 happening right at the start of a regulation change.

Boromedic

Except it's not a conspiracy, he made multiple questionable decisions over the course of the season. The last of which gifted the title to Max Verstappen, effectively deciding who got the title, that's what's got the diehards up in arms. If Lewis had been in Max's position and won the title in the same manner I'd have been equally as angry.

He is not able to make the right decisions under pressure and therefore needs replacing, it's not difficult, nor a conspiracy, or anything else. It's incompetence in a pressure situation.