‘Bring back Michael Masi’: F1 Twitter reacts to the Italian GP’s ‘controversial’ ending behind the safety car
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Max Verstappen
The Italian GP ended behind the safety car, and Max Verstappen won the race, with Charles Leclerc finishing P2, and George Russell completing the podium finish. The safety car had come out following Daniel Ricciardo stopping by the side of the track, and the car couldn’t be cleared in time for the end of the race.
Last year in Abu Dhabi, this could have been the case as well, as the correct procedure would be to clear the lapped cars away before restarting the race. However, Michael Masi opted for a lap of ‘motor racing’ and only cleared the cars between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. We all know what happened afterwards. This incident was likely what Masi lost his job over.
This time around, it’s legal, it’s fair and it’s in the rules as well. So there are no questions about the decision, as the car couldn’t be cleared soon enough. However, it certainly is disappointing, as we could have had a grandstand finish. The other option could have been to red-flag the race so the car can be cleared away, and then a standing start.
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Lewis Hamilton on the Italian GP ending: ‘Those are the rules, only once have they been changed.’
Fans have been divided over the ending – while it is legal, it was certainly rather disappointing. In this sense, it’s the opposite of what happened in Abu Dhabi last year. It is a lose-lose situation either way: one way is controversy, and the other way is the disappointment of the fans. There certainly is a lot of disappointment.
Lewis Hamilton, who was on the other side of the Abu Dhabi race, made his thoughts clear on the matter and said:
David Croft also seems to echo that sentiment.
Max Verstappen was dominant during the race, and there’s no guarantee that Charles Leclerc would have won the race even if the race was restarted.
But some feel that as the track was clear, the race should have been restart for actual racing laps, and sarcastically called for the return of Michael Masi. But the counter to it is that this was the correct procedure.
What happened cannot be changed or challenged, as it is certainly the correct thing to do in the situation. But they could have possibly red-flagged the race for a standing start if it was actually possible. To see the race ending behind a safety car is always disappointing, and the Tifosi had certainly made their displeasure clear at the end of the race.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)