From Sky Sports: "Mercedes lodge intention to appeal This controversy is not done yet, however. Mercedes have confirmed in the last few moments they have lodged an intention to appeal the verdict of the second protest dismal, which relates to the Safety Car protocol. They have 48 hours to formalise that."
Imagine another scenario where masi didnt intervene in Saudi arabia and didnt mess round here. Would the 1/2 results not simply have been swapped round? Who knows. In both cases Hamilton was quicker.
FIA had the opportunity to overrule the result tonight, but it will now be dragged out fit several months as it gets taken to a decision from CAS. As BLS says I can’t see the result standing. Masi failed to apply the rules correctly and it will be embarrassing for the sport and may discourage future other companies taking part. They should act immediately
To be fair it was going to be dragged out regardless. RBR would have appealed had they sided with Merc. Either way this was going to court and on for weeks!
The FIA have said that it's up to the race director to decide and he decided and the reg in question takes precedence over the reg mercedes are using to appeal. Seems to me that says the rules were followed and theres no possible case. Now to any sane person it is a get out but in the end the thing has to be sorted before moeny gets doled out this Thursday
Once again the FIA sets a precedent to get it's self out of the s**t. So basically they are saying the race director can make the rules up as he goes!! Merc need to take this to the sporting arbitration court. The race director can't just change the rules when he likes how can anyone compete under that rule?
The sad part of all this really, is that safety car rules and procedures were just totally thrown out of the window. It has mostly felt like any/all of those regulations are sacred and must be adhered to. Any infringement under them is a black and white penalty. But today the sport decided that they aren't as sacred as we think, and they can toss out their own protocol when they deem it's financially beneficial. What a lousy thing to do in the finale of a mostly incredible season.
What I'm noticing is that all the journalists on the Gravy train are now going along with the narrative that this was OK and part of let them race. Obviously keen to keep the bosses happy and stay in the circus. Disgraceful scenes.
I think it will go to courts. While I appreciate the Race Director has the last call, that has to be within the expected interpretation of the rules, not to change them on the day, while racing is taking place. This is not about are you a Hamilton or Verstappen fan, it is about there is a rule book and big business. Global brands will not invest if a race director has carte blanche to rule as he or she wishes. I would expect that Masi either loses his role for next year or it will require a different process, like a panel. This is very serious for the sport. Masi has brought the sport into disrepute.
I really hate the propaganda like slogan of "Let them.race", especially now it's just parroted around social media as a get out for any ridiculous racing. RBR certainly weren't in the "let them race" camp today when Hamilton cut the corner. So... Where we are at is that Masi can do what the hell he wants and apply the rules as and when he sees fit. That's just not on for the long term.
If I go to Silverstone next year I might carry a 'Go **** Yourself Masi' banner. I will try and work on the wording to make it a little more intelligent on the day. In all seriousness, Masi has made himself the story. Suggests to me there is a massive ego there. Bad Bad Bad!
Might be worth using words that are allowed to be shown on TV I think Masi is just obeying his pay masters and making decisions based on 'entertainment' not sporting regs!
They clearly could not change the race result today, what would that say, even if they realised they made an error. Kick it away, see if Merc accept the outcome after the emotion has calmed down. If they don't, lets see how we mitigate this. Really hope Merc don't give up because consistency is needed, this year has been a debacle and this not the way forward. Going to stop now, not happy though.
