Posted on 08/05/2009 7:57:45 PM PDT by Chode
This will be a general purpose thread for F1 news and pings that really don't require a thread of their own.
100%
dude, i still answer to hey azzhole... no worries
!
Michael Masi has been removed from his position as F1 race director after the investigation into his handling of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.
Masi botched the finish of the title decider between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton last year. The race was settled by a one-lap sprint, which saw Verstappen pass Hamilton to win the title after the safety car restart rules were incorrectly applied by Masi.
Masi effectively forced that last-lap showdown when he only let a certain amount of lapped cars overtake Hamilton, moving Verstappen right up behind him on brand new tyres before restarting the race one lap before the regulations said he was supposed to in that situation.
On Thursday, new FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem confirmed that Masi had been removed from the position and replaced by an overhauled system of controlling and officiating F1 races.
The decision is effectively an admission by the FIA that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix should not have been restarted in the way it was.
The role of race director will be filled by two alternating people. Niels Wittich, current DTM race director, and Eduardo Freitas, current race director of the World Endurance Championship, will take turns in filling the role.
They will both be assisted by Herbie Blash, 73, who used to work in a similar role under former race director Charlie Whiting but retired in 2016. Masi stepped in to replace Whiting after his sudden death on the eve of the 2019 season opener.
One contentious point with Masi’s handling of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was how he appeared overwhelmed and inundated with messages from Mercedes and Red Bull. The FIA has confirmed that teams will no longer be able to send messages directly to the race director, which will now presumably be handled by Blash in his new role.
They will be assisted by a virtual race control room the FIA has likened to the controversial Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) system in football. This will be located outside the F1 circuit and will work in real-time connection with the F1 race director to apply the sporting regulations “using the most modern technological tools”.
The timing of the announcement was curious, as it came moments after Ferrari, the sport’s most popular team, had launched its new F1 car for the 2022 season.
“new FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem”??
Why the alternating deal ? Make both of them concur with each other at the same time on the issue and make the ruling.
I keep wondering if there will be a change of the results and they come out with a co-Championship and the Trophy gets cut in half vertically or something even more absurd than that. And the money is donated to some zgltys group at the request of hammythehalfbreed.
No, what's done is done, and the results will stand.
The only thing I didn't like about the finish in Abu Dhabi was that Max was able to pit for new tires under the Safety Car, rejoin behind a bunch of back markers, then have those back markers cleared by the Race Director for the final shootout lap.
Had Hamilton been allowed to also put on fresh tires, then it would have been a fair fight. But with Verstappen on new tires, Hamilton on old tires, and no traffic to deal with, the result was inevitable.
right?
done deal, but don’t give-em any ideas
Lights Out is coming up soon, right?
13th Anniversary coming up this year for the Thread.
That’s got to be a Record for Longest running (time wise) continuing Thread here I would think.
I can’t think of any others, chronologically anyway.
I know there’s ones that have more Posts but not age.
Lord the intrigue
Hobbit?
The way car prices are going for used or new soon it’ll be a toss up tween a used land cruiser or a season or two old Hispania Cosworth
It’s ridiculous
I priced a new Bronco for my rib at Carvana
89,000
I think a 30,000 add on
There’s a f-1 race next Sunday atforida i think? Saw it advertised when i did a tv guide eearch for “racing”- hot it taped whether its a new race or not (i neglected to,see if was gonna be live or not)
Dang! Way too much. I’ve been watching mecum auctions where they sell higher end stuff, and you can get older trucks some for around $10-20,000-some with fairly low miles tooi think id rather go that route than The new route.
11:00am 3/20/22
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