Ryar wrote: ↑15 Feb 2022, 04:29
nzjrs wrote: ↑14 Feb 2022, 19:43
https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2022/02 ... on-meets-2
Nice report from the sensible and un-biased Joe Saward.
It remains to be seen what this means, but it is not thought likely that the federation will axe Race Director Michael Masi, as this would obviously be a sign of the FIA kowtowing to pressures from external forces, particularly as the FIA Stewards in Abu Dhabi rejected the Mercedes-Benz appeal and by doing so supported Masi’s actions, whether it was popular or not. They are the official referees of the sport and thus the FIA wants them to be respected. To remove Masi would be unwise and would create unhelpful precedents for the sport. It is far more likely that the analysis will focus on the way that the Safety Car is used, as this was the fundamental reason that Lewis Hamilton lost the World Championship. Th Safety Car rules have never been fair but with new technology there is an opportunity to find new ways to bring races under caution without the leader losing the advantage that has been built up. There may also be a change to the pitlane rules so that a driver does not suffer based on where the car is when the race goes under yellow.
Everyone feels for Lewis and what happened but some of the crusaders who are trying to mount witch-hunts against Masi need to understand – as the FIA Stewards in Abu Dhabi obviously did – that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with what the Race Director did, even if the result was patently unfair and Hamilton did not deserve to lose the race and thus the title.
This basically mirrors my position. I think MB overplayed their hand.
Many people, including current and former drivers and TV pundits share the same opinion with regards to the decision making and willing to see Masi continue. It remains to be seen if FIA would get bullied or not by Toto (I doubt if the Daimler supports it so can't say Mercedes).
It’s a polarizing situation and one that of course have people emotionally invested in the different sides of the situation… As you say, many people may agree with Masi (it’s interesting though, because making a count would be pretty hard and always debatable since who’s opinion matter more) and many people (based on what I’ve read, more than the ones that agree), disagree with how Masi handled the situation.
It’s a shame though, that we are already trying to establish a narrative that if the FIA does agree with those that think that Masi’s actions were wrong, it is because of Mercedes / Toto “bullying them”, I disagree with such a statement since it’s a cope out… If the FIA does take action against Masi is because they agree that the actions from him at the last race weren’t correct (I’m not arguing intention, simply based on what the rules are as written today)… This same argument goes for those afraid that the FIA will actually validate Masi’s actions, in which case the other camp will say that the FIA intervened to make Max a Champion.
At the end, I’m afraid that regardless of the decision there is going to be people that are leaving logic in their trash cans and are ready to assume one thing or the other based on the decision.
Given the fact that the FIA actually went to the lengths of performing an investigation (something that is sui generis for this type of situations), I will side which whatever outcome from it… If it is in favor of Masi, great! We can put it to rest and hopefully they simply put rules in place to avoid a repeat… If it’s against Masi’s call, then great! We can put it to rest and hope that rules are put in place so that we can avoid all the polemic behind it and it’s clear to all involve how this situations should be handled in the future.