EYESAILOR
Super Anarchist
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- 2,582
He might be looking for a new job. Dont let him come near the sport of sailing as a Principal Race Officer or Race Committee chair.
I know, I know, its a sailing site. But damn it, there is no equivalent to SA in the motor racing world and I just have to vent somewhere.
I beg forgiveness from @Editor
Verstappen is a prodigious talent. But his first world championship will forever be tainted .
As a long time fan of F1 and auto racing, going into the grand finale at Abu Dhabi, I could not lose. I was either going to witness the best of a new generation of racers win his first world championship or I was going to watch as a GOAT secured a record setting 8th world championship. How could I possible be disappointed. It was going to be a thrilling duel . I was rooting for Verstappen but with the utmost respect and admiration for Hamilton. Mr. Eye was routing for Hamilton, but in awe of the verve of Verstappen. It should have been an amazing Sunday. We invited friends over, served Brunch and had chilled champagne ready to serve for the finish.
I got my thrilling duel for 48 laps, but got neither of my outcomes . Verstappen did not win his first world championship, Lewis did not set a record and the champagne remained unopened.
Instead Michael Masi polluted the outcome and the history books by arbitrarily selecting a winner . "Its motor racing" he said! It was until he artificially created a situation where with one lap to go he had allowed Max to change to a fresh set of soft tires , leaving Lewis stranded on a set of old hard tires, closed the pre-existing gap between Lewis and Max of 13 seconds down to 0,4 second, cleared out 5 cars between them , and then said "go race for one lap". No driver in the world stood a chance in the position that Masi set up for Hamilton. It was over before the last lap started. Yet nether Hamilton nor Team Mercedes had put a foot wrong. Their strategy was based upon the rules.
The Race Director (and I hope Masi never gets that job again) had 3 options, all of which would have complied with the rules:
Option #1 : Red Flag the race when it was clear that there was not time to clear Latifi's car and restart the race under a safety car. Then the race would restart from the grid, with everyone on equal tires with 3 laps to go.....or a rolling restart on equal tires. = Thrilling finish with the world champion decided in 3 last laps of heroic racing. Hamilton has his lead pared down to the gap on the grid. Great Opportunity for Verstappen. But a level playing field. Kudos to the winner.
Option # 2. Restart from safety car for one last lap without letting any lapped cars unlap = Hamilton was previously winning the race , but Verstappen is handed a long shot last chance because the gap had been reduced to less than 2 seconds. Verstappen had a 3 second speed advantage with the new tires but 5 cars to pass .
Option # 3 Follow standard Safety Car procedure , and allow all lapped cars to unlap = No more racing and Hamilton is World Champion. No last chance for Verstappen, but Hamilton had driven a compelling race up till that point.
Mercedes obviously preferred #3 but they took the correct strategic steps for all 3 options.
Instead Masi threw the rule book and precedent out of the window and used the power of Race Director to create a fourth option which made the whole race a complete mockery of racing.
Dumb and Disappointing. Masi Must GO......MMG.
Can you imagine Peter Craig or Hank Stuart allowing a World Championship to be decided by abandoning and restarting the last race with just one upwind leg to decide it all, but allowing the boat that was second to add crew and change to new heavy air sails while the previously leading boat is stuck with a light air set up?
I know, I know, its a sailing site. But damn it, there is no equivalent to SA in the motor racing world and I just have to vent somewhere.
I beg forgiveness from @Editor
Verstappen is a prodigious talent. But his first world championship will forever be tainted .
As a long time fan of F1 and auto racing, going into the grand finale at Abu Dhabi, I could not lose. I was either going to witness the best of a new generation of racers win his first world championship or I was going to watch as a GOAT secured a record setting 8th world championship. How could I possible be disappointed. It was going to be a thrilling duel . I was rooting for Verstappen but with the utmost respect and admiration for Hamilton. Mr. Eye was routing for Hamilton, but in awe of the verve of Verstappen. It should have been an amazing Sunday. We invited friends over, served Brunch and had chilled champagne ready to serve for the finish.
I got my thrilling duel for 48 laps, but got neither of my outcomes . Verstappen did not win his first world championship, Lewis did not set a record and the champagne remained unopened.
Instead Michael Masi polluted the outcome and the history books by arbitrarily selecting a winner . "Its motor racing" he said! It was until he artificially created a situation where with one lap to go he had allowed Max to change to a fresh set of soft tires , leaving Lewis stranded on a set of old hard tires, closed the pre-existing gap between Lewis and Max of 13 seconds down to 0,4 second, cleared out 5 cars between them , and then said "go race for one lap". No driver in the world stood a chance in the position that Masi set up for Hamilton. It was over before the last lap started. Yet nether Hamilton nor Team Mercedes had put a foot wrong. Their strategy was based upon the rules.
The Race Director (and I hope Masi never gets that job again) had 3 options, all of which would have complied with the rules:
Option #1 : Red Flag the race when it was clear that there was not time to clear Latifi's car and restart the race under a safety car. Then the race would restart from the grid, with everyone on equal tires with 3 laps to go.....or a rolling restart on equal tires. = Thrilling finish with the world champion decided in 3 last laps of heroic racing. Hamilton has his lead pared down to the gap on the grid. Great Opportunity for Verstappen. But a level playing field. Kudos to the winner.
Option # 2. Restart from safety car for one last lap without letting any lapped cars unlap = Hamilton was previously winning the race , but Verstappen is handed a long shot last chance because the gap had been reduced to less than 2 seconds. Verstappen had a 3 second speed advantage with the new tires but 5 cars to pass .
Option # 3 Follow standard Safety Car procedure , and allow all lapped cars to unlap = No more racing and Hamilton is World Champion. No last chance for Verstappen, but Hamilton had driven a compelling race up till that point.
Mercedes obviously preferred #3 but they took the correct strategic steps for all 3 options.
Instead Masi threw the rule book and precedent out of the window and used the power of Race Director to create a fourth option which made the whole race a complete mockery of racing.
Dumb and Disappointing. Masi Must GO......MMG.
Can you imagine Peter Craig or Hank Stuart allowing a World Championship to be decided by abandoning and restarting the last race with just one upwind leg to decide it all, but allowing the boat that was second to add crew and change to new heavy air sails while the previously leading boat is stuck with a light air set up?
