Michael Masi should be replaced

[Mr Tidy]

RichB said:

TriumphStag3.0V8 said:

I would understand if Lewis quit. Given the corruption and incompetence that was shown in Abu Dhabi.
It would be a real shame for the sport, but the manipulation of races for the benefit of "the spectacle" means that the sporting competition is already dead.

That said, I would love for Hamilton to come back and dominate this season, him and Merc to win both championships as a massive "fk you" to the FIA and Liberty, before then quitting and publically tearing them to pieces.

Yep, totally agree. I really hope he races and that he and George Russell totally beat Red Bull. We'll see...

Yes I'd love to see that happen too!

[craigjm]

Hamilton wont quit. That would drop Mercedes really in it this late in the day. He will come back and aim for the 8th championship to have the most ever. The noise about quitting is all to do with the incident IMO.

[Likes Fast Cars]

craigjm said:

Hamilton wont quit. That would drop Mercedes really in it this late in the day. He will come back and aim for the 8th championship to have the most ever. The noise about quitting is all to do with the incident IMO.

Yep, I can't help but think Merc and Lewis are playing it tough to try and get their own way. They won't get what they want, and Lewis won't quit.

[Blib]

Likes Fast Cars said:

craigjm said:

Hamilton wont quit. That would drop Mercedes really in it this late in the day. He will come back and aim for the 8th championship to have the most ever. The noise about quitting is all to do with the incident IMO.

Yep, I can't help but think Merc and Lewis are playing it tough to try and get their own way. They won't get what they want, and Lewis won't quit.

I wonder what 'their own way' looks like to them?

Most of Masi's calls had to be made on the fly. Whoever comes in will have the same issues and will have to make the same judgement calls.

Worst job in sport, currently.

Edited by Blib on Monday 17th January 09:00

[RichB]

Blib said:

Likes Fast Cars said:

craigjm said:

Hamilton wont quit. That would drop Mercedes really in it this late in the day. He will come back and aim for the 8th championship to have the most ever. The noise about quitting is all to do with the incident IMO.

Yep, I can't help but think Merc and Lewis are playing it tough to try and get their own way. They won't get what they want, and Lewis won't quit.

I wonder what 'their own way' looks like to them?

Indeed, as far as I'm aware all they've asked for is the results of the enquiry into the incorrect application of the safety car procedure. I guess some people can't help but see Mecedes F1 and Hamilton as the aggressors in this debacle.

[MarkwG]

Blib said:

Likes Fast Cars said:

craigjm said:

Hamilton wont quit. That would drop Mercedes really in it this late in the day. He will come back and aim for the 8th championship to have the most ever. The noise about quitting is all to do with the incident IMO.

Yep, I can't help but think Merc and Lewis are playing it tough to try and get their own way. They won't get what they want, and Lewis won't quit.

I wonder what 'their own way' looks like to them?

Most of Masi's calls had to be made on the fly. Whoever comes in will have the same issues and will have to make the same judgement calls.

Worst job in sport, currently.

Edited by Blib on Monday 17th January 09:00

It may be the worst job the way Masi does it - however, if he had stuck to the rules as he described them, he'd have been fine.

[KobayashiMaru86]

I wouldn't sack him. He needs a proper support structure. Charlie before him knew every aspect and did it for years and still did things teams though were errors. If he did go, who do you go to next?

[Carlososos]

KobayashiMaru86 said:

I wouldn't sack him. He needs a proper support structure. Charlie before him knew every aspect and did it for years and still did things teams though were errors. If he did go, who do you go to next?

He should go but will he? He destroyed the credibility of the 2021 wdc. If there were a error worth sacking for that would be it. When we talk about replacing him is difficult because no one has experience like him, well that experience hasn’t exactly worked out to be worth anything with so many bad calls and one ginormous fk up.

Someone can do a better job.

[HustleRussell]

Carlososos said:

Someone can do a better job.

Including Michael Masi.

We still don’t know what factors lead to him doing what he did but anyway the world at large seems happy to blame him alone- which is convenient for the FIA and the sport, commercially.

[Muzzer79]

MarkwG said:

Blib said:

Likes Fast Cars said:

craigjm said:

Hamilton wont quit. That would drop Mercedes really in it this late in the day. He will come back and aim for the 8th championship to have the most ever. The noise about quitting is all to do with the incident IMO.

Yep, I can't help but think Merc and Lewis are playing it tough to try and get their own way. They won't get what they want, and Lewis won't quit.

I wonder what 'their own way' looks like to them?

Most of Masi's calls had to be made on the fly. Whoever comes in will have the same issues and will have to make the same judgement calls.

Worst job in sport, currently.

Edited by Blib on Monday 17th January 09:00

It may be the worst job the way Masi does it - however, if he had stuck to the rules as he described them, he'd have been fine.

There's an argument, which I don't agree with, stating that he'd have got almost as much heat if the culmination of the season in which the two protagonists were a handful of points apart the whole time.........the closest title race in years......which was being decided at the final race.......was everybody trundling over the line at the chequered flag behind the safety car.

At least however he would have had the foundation of the rules to fall back on. Horners whingeing could have been easily dismissed with that.

[Maxdecel]

Andrew Benson mentions two here:- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60007031 But one doesn't seem keen !
Under - What are the likely outcomes? Nielson has an interesting career path, started off as a van driver in the catering side of F1.

[ch37]

Does Andrew Benson attend the races or have credentials should he wish/be able to do so? Like him or loathe him he's been one of the few mainstream reporters to actually keep discussing it without it being a complete fluff piece. I would guess his column is comfortably the most read F1 column in the world too.

[ettore]

Yes, he used to be the GP editor for Autosport before joining the beeb - been around a long time and part of the ‘scene’.

[mattikake]

Muzzer79 said:

MarkwG said:

Blib said:

Likes Fast Cars said:

craigjm said:

Hamilton wont quit. That would drop Mercedes really in it this late in the day. He will come back and aim for the 8th championship to have the most ever. The noise about quitting is all to do with the incident IMO.

Yep, I can't help but think Merc and Lewis are playing it tough to try and get their own way. They won't get what they want, and Lewis won't quit.

I wonder what 'their own way' looks like to them?

Most of Masi's calls had to be made on the fly. Whoever comes in will have the same issues and will have to make the same judgement calls.

Worst job in sport, currently.

Edited by Blib on Monday 17th January 09:00

It may be the worst job the way Masi does it - however, if he had stuck to the rules as he described them, he'd have been fine.

There's an argument, which I don't agree with, stating that he'd have got almost as much heat if the culmination of the season in which the two protagonists were a handful of points apart the whole time.........the closest title race in years......which was being decided at the final race.......was everybody trundling over the line at the chequered flag behind the safety car.

At least however he would have had the foundation of the rules to fall back on. Horners whingeing could have been easily dismissed with that.

Nah. He knew the rules as demonstrated in 2020 when he stated what the SC regs were to the other teams. He simply chose not to follow them.

Anyone competent could do this job. Like every job, you learn the rules, regs and processes and you follow them regardless because that is your job. It's your job to know your job. Every referee in sport does this and the regs are no less complex than any other job.

[ch37]

To be fair F1 does seem to throw up more than its fair share of incidents that would have been difficult to have been predicted when drafting sporting regulations. Last season alone gave us plenty of odd moments (Lewis lining up on the grid alone!) Sure they don't help themselves (track limits changing week on week!) but it's massively complex and fast-paced and certainly not an easy job anyone can do, no matter how well they've read (or written!) the rule book.

Experience is a big part of it, especially when unlike many other sports, the competitors and teams are all actively looking for ways to stretch those rules to breaking point constantly (and I'm talking about the sporting regs, lets not even get on to the technical regs!)

Football (for example) has had a relatively small and well-defined (over decades) set of sporting rules which only have minor changes year on year. Even then, and with the additon of various technologies to assist them, errors are still made regularly. It's not a like for like comparison, but it does go to show that the human element is always part of it.

Edited by ch37 on Tuesday 18th January 14:55

[MarkwG]

Muzzer79 said:

MarkwG said:

Blib said:

Likes Fast Cars said:

craigjm said:

Hamilton wont quit. That would drop Mercedes really in it this late in the day. He will come back and aim for the 8th championship to have the most ever. The noise about quitting is all to do with the incident IMO.

Yep, I can't help but think Merc and Lewis are playing it tough to try and get their own way. They won't get what they want, and Lewis won't quit.

I wonder what 'their own way' looks like to them?

Most of Masi's calls had to be made on the fly. Whoever comes in will have the same issues and will have to make the same judgement calls.

Worst job in sport, currently.

Edited by Blib on Monday 17th January 09:00

It may be the worst job the way Masi does it - however, if he had stuck to the rules as he described them, he'd have been fine.

There's an argument, which I don't agree with, stating that he'd have got almost as much heat if the culmination of the season in which the two protagonists were a handful of points apart the whole time.........the closest title race in years......which was being decided at the final race.......was everybody trundling over the line at the chequered flag behind the safety car.

At least however he would have had the foundation of the rules to fall back on. Horners whingeing could have been easily dismissed with that.

I hear you - but counter to that:
1) protocol would mean the safety car peels off into the pit lane at the end, so all cars pass the chequered flag without the Aston/Mercedes in front. Can't recall if it's happened before, but that's as I understand it. No racing, though, it's still SC conditions.
2) the job comes with heat; the heat for following the rules is significantly less than for breaking them, & he would hold the high moral ground, not be slithering about in the mud trying to justify his position, so, as you say, Horner can whine all he likes, but the rules have been followed.

[Blib]

Masi made the right decision in 'heart-pumping' finale - Grosjean

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/74645/masi-made-...

[fomb]

Blib said:

Masi made the right decision in 'heart-pumping' finale for entertainment value- Grosjean

Updated the title to be more accurate and less click-baity

[mattikake]

The FIA have released an explanation as to the events of Abu Dhabi...

[glazbagun]

Closer to the truth than the official FIA explanation will be I'd bet.