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Originally Posted by Foghorn
Not so. MB knew that the rules at that point only allowed for a safety car finish. Why should their strategy consider alternatives not allowed by the rules?
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Bullshit. Latifi crashed in lap 53. Still 5 laps to go. No one can predict how long the cleanup takes. 5 laps is pretty long at sc speed, especially at Yas Marina, that's a pretty long track.
At that point teams have to make tactical decisions. Merc chose the wrong one.
And of course if BOT had done his job better, VER wouldn't have had a free pitstop, but his driving was sub par.
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Masi had the option to red flag the race but chose not to. A red flag would have allowed them to finish while racing. Why did he choose to materially prejudice certain competitors when he had a better option, an option clearly defined in the rules?
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A red flag is called when the track is totally blocked, when driving has become impossible/too dangerous or when the marshalls/medical teams can't do their work safely.
Neither of these were the case. Latifi wasn't injured, the car was totally on the side of the track; cars could easily pass at SC speed while the cleanup crew did their job.
A red flag is called in a
danger situation. The rules are pretty clear about that.
Using it to influence the outcome of the race...that would be bending the rules....
From the rulebook:
"If Competitors or officials are placed in immediate physical danger by cars running on the track,
and the clerk of the course deems circumstances are such that the track cannot be negotiated
safely, even behind the safety car, the race will be suspended."
And as the wreckage was cleared under normal sc, there was clearly not enough danger to suspend the race...
So Masi was hurrying up the cleanup because he didn't want the championship to end under safetycar (nobody wants that....) but have it fought out on the track (and he expressed already a similar opinion the race before so this was expected). So only the lapped cars between place 1 and 2 could be unlapped.
Letting the lapped cars pass is normal practice as lapped cars shouldn't interfere with the race at the top of the field.
Ferrari (Sainz) became the victim of that. NOT Hamilton.
And yet Ferrari/Sainz have piece with that (no protest) and Merc/Ham keeps on whining.
Maybe Ferrari also rather wants to see RB take the WDC than Merc. Because of the whining. Who knows
