New F1 season - 2022

Phil H

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Formula 1's governing body has said "human error" was responsible for the incorrect application of rules in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The FIA said race director Michael Masi had acted in "good faith" during the controversial finale which saw Max Verstappen ****** the championship from Lewis Hamilton on the last lap.
Masi has since been removed from his post and F1 race control restructured.
The report ruled the result and the World Championship "valid and final".

So, confirmation (as if it were needed) that Masi's decision was wrong and Hamilton was robbed. As a competitive sport F1 has well and truly lost its way.
 

Tallman

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I suggest you go to fia.com and read the report. There is no mention of human error, I have no idea where Ted Kravitz got that from, probably some analyst who quickly tried to summarise the report for Ted. Always consider your source. Sky F1 has a very obvious take on Abu Dhabi which is not necessarily objective. Understandable as they are British, but the rest of the world gets their own news. But let’s rather move on and enjoy the new season…
 
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Zep

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I have read the report, it doesn’t say the words human or error anywhere in it. But I see those words used in the press and on Sky a lot. It does observe that a lot of parties, including the teams and drivers expressed a wish for races to finish under green flag conditions, and that Masi acted in good faith in that regard. It also noted that the teams comms with the RD were distracting and that there needed to be a division of responsibilities to reduce the workload.


To me it is controversial, but any evidence of bias is circumstantial. There are lots of reasons why it occurred by none of them are based on a preference for a particular driver, more a preference for a way the race ended.

In any event, its done now, it is unlikely to happen again in the same way and we can move on and either watch the races or not. I was really ****** when Senna was DQ'd by Balestre in '89 in what was clearly a biased intervention, but I still watch it and enjoy it.
 

Phil H

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Correct, the report does not state 'human error' but reports are always open to interpretation (especially by lawyers and the media), and the clear references to the pressures and unwanted distractions imposed on the Race Director suggest that all was not well with the decision making; the fact is he is being replaced for 2022, and recommendations have been made to improve the decision making process to avoid similar happening again, so all was not well - and it certainly wasn't due to equipment failure.

Prost was known as 'the professor' for good reason, and I would love to see how the present crop of drivers would cope in a comms-free environment with only passive telemetry permitted to monitor a car's performance and no direct communication from teams to race directors. Once a car is prepped and ready to go, racing should be about driver and car performance, not all the other cr*p we see these days.

Perhaps Masi was an unfortunate victim of circumstance, but that's not something I would say of Balestre.
 

Zep

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We agree there then. Masi’s mistake was trying to please everyone. Balestre only pleased himself.
 

Sam McGoo

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Its all BS though...!
Beyond the disparities of money; who has it, where it comes from; any notion of
ta;ent + hardwork = results is wasted....!
Which is why the media "owns" the rights to watch, and controls the narrative through it's various , paid up platforms...
Its obvious that selling is the game, bulls1t the aim..Non stories, bitching and moaning.
It demeans the whole thing really. Id prefer not to know in some ways....At least Id like to not feel quite so "manipulated" !
Who enjoyed seeing Coulthard's ar5e yesterday..? They spend so much time spinning their yarns..yawn.
Shut up and race !

I have watched every episode of S4 by now...!
I am less convinced of my previous position with respect the last race as it pertains to LH vs MV .
I am comfortable to conclude that Race Direction made some clumsy, badly judged decisions over the year. The biggest travesty of incompetence being the last race fiasco. The fans were the ones who have really been shafted by this farce. Look at the numbers though, and they love it. Go figure...
Mazepin is a spoiled POS. No one needs miss the Russian after this year's departure IMO.
And for me, a weird mix of offence and amusement that these "kids" use such foul language as a matter of course. It kind of loses it's edge when the only words they know are "fuc51ng" and, "c7nt".
Use your words children......
Bite me. :battered:

Still watching it then ....... ;)
 

TimR

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2,656
Still watching it then ....... ;)
So far....But not for the bullsh1t actually...
Regarding the Drive2survive- it seems quite a few drivers are expressing their own concerns that it is "somewhat fictional..."
 

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outrun

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Yep I was quoted about 15 months. Quality seems variable, one of the cars I test drove had a sunroof that rattled really badly. They also sound pants, not sure why I ordered it really but I fancy a change and this was the best £100k new car I could find. Planning on keeping it a decade so the depreciation should average out ok. Might buy something different that is used but current prices are just silly IMHO.
What are you doing with the Granturismo? Keeping it?
 

Sam McGoo

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So far....But not for the bullsh1t actually...
Regarding the Drive2survive- it seems quite a few drivers are expressing their own concerns that it is "somewhat fictional..."

Yeah I see verstapen chatting about false rivalries etc...
I've not watched S4 yet. Will probably binge it in a couple of weeks.

On another note, nice to see the grid mixed up this weekend. Long may it last!
 

outrun

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In the end, who really cares what happened in Abu Dhabi? It's clearly error under pressure, but it's just a sport and has f all impact on anything.

I love F1, I love the strategy, the technical challenges, the fact it pushed clever people to extreme competition. I don't care who wins a title as they are all massively well paid for doing what they love so I can't feel any sympathy.

Today, I'm pleased to see a bit of a shake up caused by the new rules with Ferrari and their customers at Alfa and Haas looking competitive at this stage. Uncertain outcomes, close racing, and the opportunity for different results is interesting to me. Far more so than the same teams/drivers wiping the floor every week.

I'm more interested this year than usual, let's see what happens as the teams develop, how they handle varied circuits, how one driver exerts dominance over a team mate.

Bring it.
 

Andyk

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61,040
It was and good to see it shaken up a bit. HAAS in 7th is just brilliant. Just disappointed that Red Bull aren’t further down the pecking order.
 

Andyk

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Not really interested in what the report said as it would alsways be washed over. Simple from where I was sat Masi fecked up….Believe what you want but him leaving tells you exactly that. He lost Lewis the championship that day with us interpretation of the rules or lack of.

Anyway into this year which is already looking interesting.
 

Tallman

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Not really interested in what the report said as it would alsways be washed over. Simple from where I was sat Masi fecked up….Believe what you want but him leaving tells you exactly that. He lost Lewis the championship that day with us interpretation of the rules or lack of.

Anyway into this year which is already looking interesting.
Lewis twice more or less miraculously came back from a big points deficit last year. Once through some crashes by Mercedes cars into Verstappen and once after suddenly finding a lot of speed at the end of the season. Add in some bad luck for Verstappen in Baku with the blow-out. Add some questionable strategy calls by Mercedes and some uncharacteristic driving mistakes by Lewis. Basically Lewis had one option, to win all four of the last races Which he nearly did. His luck finally ran out and with Latifi crashing. The race finishes with the chequered flag though. Given the season the right guy won. You can feel he got robbed at the end but some robbery had been going on during the season as well. You got to treat all the same, no matter where it happens in the rather long season. It’s a championship decided over 22 races and nearly 10 months, not over 5 laps in the last race. You can keep on asking what-if questions until the cows come home but you have to do so consistently over the whole season, not just the last 5 laps. All this robbery talk is just fans hanging on to their disappointment - which is understandable but life is tough. Enjoy the coming season without prejudice or hang-ups, it’ll just spoil it for you.
 

Andyk

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61,040
Yep, all the above but one thing remains the decision at the last race was just blatantly breaking the rules. His decision was probably made to make the end exciting but that decision lost him his job so says it for me. But it’s all done now and looking forward to seeing how this years pans out and how much swearing and whinging Christine Horner can do throughout the season. To be honest this year is all about the middle teams and seeing how well they are going to do as it will be great to see them fighting it out with the top teams and looking at what we saw yesterday we may get a much more exciting season.
 

Ewan

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I member of my family is working for the Alpine team (gearbox designer) so I’ll be supporting them this season. Should be good for a few podiums.
 

Andyk

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61,040
I member of my family is working for the Alpine team (gearbox designer) so I’ll be supporting them this season. Should be good for a few podiums.

Really hope they do well this year Ewan also. I will be cheering on Aston Martin, Alpine, McLaren and hope Kevin does a great job for Haas.
 

Guy

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2,007
Tallman nailed it. It was the outcome of a great season and there were arguments on both sides throughout. Nobody liked the way it ended, but I liked even less the loss of a great race at Silverstone ruined by Hamilton taking out Verstappen, especially as I took my youngest son to his first F1 race (hopefully Spa this August will be a better one for him!). The highly respected Peter Bayer (FIA single seat dir) pointed out that the only other option following the human errors in the last race was to void it. If that was taken, it would have still resulted in Verstappen winning the championship. Let's move on. Great to see Ferrari competitive and especially two such exciting young drivers.
PS. I have met Christian Horner a few times and he is a genuinely good guy. That does not always make such compelling TV/Netflix - love the show but don't forget it is more drama than documentary!
 

TimR

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There you go see..I cant really agree.
I dont like Hamilton but felt terriible for the guy. That it went down that way is the problem..not who won & who lost, somehow...
It did all come down to the last lap, of the last race, of a tighter-than-tight season..and F1 made a real mess of it. Nobody won. Everyone loses to my mind. The drivers, the manufacturers, the fans. Because it was an extremely negative and nihilistic ending. The profile of the sport is diminished imo...
FI should start a new sport called " Sh1t the Bed" and let the grown ups set about reinstating formula one closed circuit motor racing as a serious , competitive sport....
Yeah-Im watching. But Im not sure what Im watching... And I will be doing it at arm's length....
 
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