FranticPea wrote:

Max Verstappen/Michael Masi, World Champion*

Andrew Frankel wrote:

What is wrong with Formula 1? Well I think the nub of it is contained in a statement put out by the FIA Motor Sport Council today.

Its purpose, I think, was to show the world that it was on top of and looking into the issues that arose from the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That is not how it comes across. Because before any of that, it states ’The circumstances… have notably generated significant misunderstanding and reactions from Formula 1 teams, drivers and fans, an argument that is currently tarnishing the image of the Championship…'

So the reason the reputation of F1 is being dragged through the mud is not down to the unprecedented, unfathomable decision by the FIA’s representative to interpret the rules in a way they have never been interpreted before and thereby gift the race and therefore the World Championship to a driver who five minutes earlier had not one hope in hell of taking the title, but us. You, me and every other race fan around the world. We have misunderstood. We don’t get it. There is not so much as a syllable of suggestion that the fault may lie even in part with them. And right there is what has actually been misunderstood, wilfully or otherwise, by them. Not us. The lack of self-awareness, at least in this public pronouncement, is breathtaking.

Of course what should happen is that the FIA Motor Sport Council publishes a full and sincere apology for turning the end of the most exciting season’s racing in years into a puppet show, but I’ll not be holding my breath for that. Then, I’m afraid, it needs to find itself another puppet master. And of course insofar as Jean Todt was going anyway, that will happen and not a moment too soon. But the person on the ground needs to change too, as do the rules by which he or she is meant to be guided. Because worthy champion though Max Verstappen is (and will remain now that Mercedes-AMG has officially dropped its appeal), the means by which it was delivered to him with less than two minutes of the season remaining can never be allowed to happen again.

poprock wrote:

I have a lot of time for Andrew Frankel as a motoring journalist, and he’s summed this all up really well (in my opinion, anyway).

Andrew Frankel wrote:

What is wrong with Formula 1? Well I think the nub of it is contained in a statement put out by the FIA Motor Sport Council today.

Its purpose, I think, was to show the world that it was on top of and looking into the issues that arose from the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That is not how it comes across. Because before any of that, it states ’The circumstances… have notably generated significant misunderstanding and reactions from Formula 1 teams, drivers and fans, an argument that is currently tarnishing the image of the Championship…'

So the reason the reputation of F1 is being dragged through the mud is not down to the unprecedented, unfathomable decision by the FIA’s representative to interpret the rules in a way they have never been interpreted before and thereby gift the race and therefore the World Championship to a driver who five minutes earlier had not one hope in hell of taking the title, but us. You, me and every other race fan around the world. We have misunderstood. We don’t get it. There is not so much as a syllable of suggestion that the fault may lie even in part with them. And right there is what has actually been misunderstood, wilfully or otherwise, by them. Not us. The lack of self-awareness, at least in this public pronouncement, is breathtaking.

Of course what should happen is that the FIA Motor Sport Council publishes a full and sincere apology for turning the end of the most exciting season’s racing in years into a puppet show, but I’ll not be holding my breath for that. Then, I’m afraid, it needs to find itself another puppet master. And of course insofar as Jean Todt was going anyway, that will happen and not a moment too soon. But the person on the ground needs to change too, as do the rules by which he or she is meant to be guided. Because worthy champion though Max Verstappen is (and will remain now that Mercedes-AMG has officially dropped its appeal), the means by which it was delivered to him with less than two minutes of the season remaining can never be allowed to happen again.

jdanielp wrote:

Naked calendars are always popular.

Bob wrote:

Ah good old g. The only surviving forumite that remembers black and white

“Forgiveness is always there but rules are rules,” added Ben Sulayem

3.1 It is the competitor's responsibility to ensure that all persons concerned by his entry observe all
the requirements of the Regulations. If a competitor is unable to be present in person at the
Event he must nominate his representative in writing. The person having charge of an entered
car during any part of an Event is responsible jointly and severally with the competitor for
ensuring that the requirements are observed.