FIA Decisions regarding 2022 released Feb 14, 2022 Michael Masi will be.....

Wait... no decision on the race director yet! :laugh: Still to be released at a later date. I personally think they will keep him, add assistance, and clarify certain procedures to rid as much grey area as possible. But no doubt either decision they make will be controversial, just like the last race.


BUT.... they did make some changes for the better IMHO.


https://www.fia.com/sites/default/fi...?itok=6fG-o17B

"2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Analysis
The FIA President led detailed discussions of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Feedback from the Commission on matters raised will be incorporated into the President’s analysis and he will publicly present news of structural changes and action plan in the coming days.
Sprint
Following a review of the three Sprint events that took place in 2021 and a recognition by all that the format created positive benefits for the sport, three Sprint events were proposed for 2022, acknowledging this as a sensible number in light of the pressures already on the teams for this season with the introduction of major changes to the regulations. The Commission unanimously approved the three Sprint events for the coming season, incorporating a number of updates to the format based on the feedback of fans, media and teams. The Sprint events will be:

• Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
• Austrian Grand Prix
• Brazilian Grand Prix

The format changes will include:

• Change of official session name from Sprint Qualifying to Sprint
• Awarding World Championship points for the top eight as follows:
  
  • 1^st – 8 points
  • 2^nd – 7 points
  • 3^rd – 6 points
  • 4^th – 5 points
  • 5^th – 4 points
  • 6^th – 3 points
  • 7^th – 2 points
  • 8^th – 1 point
  
  
• Awarding Pole Position for the Grand Prix to the fastest driver in Qualifying on Friday

Cost Cap Adjustments for Sprint events will remain unchanged from 2021.
Treatment of short races
Following the weather-affected 2021 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, the Commission approved proposed updates to the Sporting Regulations as follows:

• No points will be awarded unless a minimum of two laps have been completed by the leader without a Safety Car and/or Virtual Safety Car intervention.
• If the leader has completed more than two laps but less than 25% of the scheduled race distance, the top five finishers will be awarded points as follows:
  
  • 1^st – 6 points
  • 2^nd – 4 points
  • 3^rd – 3 points
  • 4^th – 2 points
  • 5^th – 1 point
  
  
• If the leader has completed 25% but less than 50% of the scheduled race distance, points will be awarded as follows:
  
  • 1^st – 13 points
  • 2^nd – 10 points
  • 3^rd – 8 points
  • 4^th – 6 points
  • 5^th – 5 point
  • 6^th – 4 points
  • 7^th – 3 points
  • 8^th – 2 points
  • 9^th – 1 point
  
  
• If the leader has completed 50% but less than 75% of the scheduled race distance, points will be awarded as follows:
  
  • 1^st – 19 points
  • 2^nd – 14 points
  • 3^rd – 12 points
  • 4^th – 9 points
  • 5^th – 8 point
  • 6^th – 6 points
  • 7^th – 5 points
  • 8^th – 3 points
  • 9^th – 2 points
  • 10^th – 1 point

Note that all regulatory changes are subject to approval by the World Motor Sport Council."


So the Sprint will remain. It will no longer be called "Sprint Qualifying" but simply "Sprint". The "Sprint" will still determine starting position for Sunday, however for record purposes the person who qualifies 1st on Friday will be credited with winning qualification. To me this makes sense, since it is the fastest person running in whatever space they create during the session and not racing other cars at the time.

Points for the Sprint will now extend down to 8th place, with a one point gap per position. Though it adds some complexity overall, I really don't care one way or another about this one.... I thought starting at the front Sunday was enough motivation already, but at the same time this does protect a team/driver if say they get taken out on race day but performed well in the Sprint.

Overall good changes IMHO.


As for the shortened races, also good changes IMHO. I don't think it should ever be considered a race until they are let loose with no safety car and no VSC. I wish they would have also clarified things further but it's possible they make those decisions up to the race director. In this instance, I think often the only way to clear the track enough to race when conditions are borderline would be to possibly let them loose under VSC conditions with gaps.... essentially let them speed up faster than the (actual) safety car but not cut them loose to race yet. Since anyone not at front is disadvantaged from the spray, giving it some time to clear first serves both safety and actual racing.

And I sure hope we don't have any two lap races!

Michael Masi dropped. Delighted. There could have been no confidence in him after his idiocy in the last race of the season. And the nerve of him then to turn around to Toto and say "It's called racing Toto" after he had manipulated the 2021 WDC and cost his driver the WDC. He's taking up another role within the FIA but imo that's going easy on him. He should be fired for his arrogance alone.

At least he's gone and F1 has a fresh take with new race directors.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Black Knight

Michael Masi dropped. Delighted. There could have been no confidence in him after his idiocy in the last race of the season. And the nerve of him then to turn around to Toto and say "It's called racing Toto" after he had manipulated the 2021 WDC and cost his driver the WDC. He's taking up another role within the FIA but imo that's going easy on him. He should be fired for his arrogance alone.

At least he's gone and F1 has a fresh take with new race directors.

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yeah, well he has done is job and given Verstappen an unearned WDC. I bet you ni 2 years he will be working for RBR.
Yes, I'm still upset and up until this point didn't feel like engaging in the forums.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by airshifter

Wait... no decision on the race director yet! :laugh: Still to be released at a later date. I personally think they will keep him, add assistance, and clarify certain procedures to rid as much grey area as possible. But no doubt either decision they make will be controversial, just like the last race.


BUT.... they did make some changes for the better IMHO.


https://www.fia.com/sites/default/fi...?itok=6fG-o17B

"2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Analysis
The FIA President led detailed discussions of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Feedback from the Commission on matters raised will be incorporated into the President’s analysis and he will publicly present news of structural changes and action plan in the coming days.
Sprint
Following a review of the three Sprint events that took place in 2021 and a recognition by all that the format created positive benefits for the sport, three Sprint events were proposed for 2022, acknowledging this as a sensible number in light of the pressures already on the teams for this season with the introduction of major changes to the regulations. The Commission unanimously approved the three Sprint events for the coming season, incorporating a number of updates to the format based on the feedback of fans, media and teams. The Sprint events will be:

• Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
• Austrian Grand Prix
• Brazilian Grand Prix

The format changes will include:

• Change of official session name from Sprint Qualifying to Sprint
• Awarding World Championship points for the top eight as follows:
  
  • 1^st – 8 points
  • 2^nd – 7 points
  • 3^rd – 6 points
  • 4^th – 5 points
  • 5^th – 4 points
  • 6^th – 3 points
  • 7^th – 2 points
  • 8^th – 1 point
  
  
• Awarding Pole Position for the Grand Prix to the fastest driver in Qualifying on Friday

Cost Cap Adjustments for Sprint events will remain unchanged from 2021.
Treatment of short races
Following the weather-affected 2021 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, the Commission approved proposed updates to the Sporting Regulations as follows:

• No points will be awarded unless a minimum of two laps have been completed by the leader without a Safety Car and/or Virtual Safety Car intervention.
• If the leader has completed more than two laps but less than 25% of the scheduled race distance, the top five finishers will be awarded points as follows:
  
  • 1^st – 6 points
  • 2^nd – 4 points
  • 3^rd – 3 points
  • 4^th – 2 points
  • 5^th – 1 point
  
  
• If the leader has completed 25% but less than 50% of the scheduled race distance, points will be awarded as follows:
  
  • 1^st – 13 points
  • 2^nd – 10 points
  • 3^rd – 8 points
  • 4^th – 6 points
  • 5^th – 5 point
  • 6^th – 4 points
  • 7^th – 3 points
  • 8^th – 2 points
  • 9^th – 1 point
  
  
• If the leader has completed 50% but less than 75% of the scheduled race distance, points will be awarded as follows:
  
  • 1^st – 19 points
  • 2^nd – 14 points
  • 3^rd – 12 points
  • 4^th – 9 points
  • 5^th – 8 point
  • 6^th – 6 points
  • 7^th – 5 points
  • 8^th – 3 points
  • 9^th – 2 points
  • 10^th – 1 point

Note that all regulatory changes are subject to approval by the World Motor Sport Council."


So the Sprint will remain. It will no longer be called "Sprint Qualifying" but simply "Sprint". The "Sprint" will still determine starting position for Sunday, however for record purposes the person who qualifies 1st on Friday will be credited with winning qualification. To me this makes sense, since it is the fastest person running in whatever space they create during the session and not racing other cars at the time.

Points for the Sprint will now extend down to 8th place, with a one point gap per position. Though it adds some complexity overall, I really don't care one way or another about this one.... I thought starting at the front Sunday was enough motivation already, but at the same time this does protect a team/driver if say they get taken out on race day but performed well in the Sprint.

Overall good changes IMHO.


As for the shortened races, also good changes IMHO. I don't think it should ever be considered a race until they are let loose with no safety car and no VSC. I wish they would have also clarified things further but it's possible they make those decisions up to the race director. In this instance, I think often the only way to clear the track enough to race when conditions are borderline would be to possibly let them loose under VSC conditions with gaps.... essentially let them speed up faster than the (actual) safety car but not cut them loose to race yet. Since anyone not at front is disadvantaged from the spray, giving it some time to clear first serves both safety and actual racing.

And I sure hope we don't have any two lap races!

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agreed.
I'm still iffy on the sprint. I wish they just kept Qualify results as the starting grid for Sunday and maybe did a reversed grid for the sprint race.
Perhaps 1-10 gets reversed and 11-20 get reversed.
sprint qualifying would be the fastest time from Saturday FP3 session.

That would be my suggestion.
Should make the sprint race exiting.
some folks will focus their car on sunday setups, etc.
Others will try and be strategic with their lap times, and it will all be undecided until the last minute of practice.
Then the cars will be parce ferme at the conclusion of FP3 for the sprint race...with the usual caveats.

Massi has been removed and reassigned.

I'm still up in the air as to why the Sprints exist myself. Even with the new points system it seems to be a lot of potential work for the payout, and possible disaster if a car torpedos up the inside of the first corner or something. There is enough risk during the race, and any problems with contact could wear team personnel thin in a hurry.


I'm confused as to their solution on having alternating race directors, but a standing assistant. I would have thought they would do that the opposite way myself. But with more coverage and the "Virtual Race Control".... video feeds and such routed to assist, hopefully they can figure out how to keep things consistent. Direct communications with the race directors will be gone, but communications for clarifications and questions will still feed to them via less intrusive means.

There is still more to be clarified before the season opener, including unlapping procedures behind the safety car. I'm hoping they can sort out a lot of inconsistencies that have taken place over the years, both before and during Masi.



Time to blame someone else for what happens. :laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by airshifter

I'm still up in the air as to why the Sprints exist myself.

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It brought higher TV ratings

Quote:

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I'm confused as to their solution on having alternating race directors, but a standing assistant. I would have thought they would do that the opposite way myself.

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Very confusing. Don't understand the European mindset on stuff like this. Having alternating anything only leads to inconsistency instead of consistency.

Quote:

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There is still more to be clarified before the season opener, including unlapping procedures behind the safety car. I'm hoping they can sort out a lot of inconsistencies that have taken place over the years, both before and during Masi.

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The issue that ended the season is a simple fix - make a rule that a race can't end under a safety car and there will be a minimum of 2 laps under green to finish.

Ratings are great, but to me the cost of the Sprint is high. Overall I didn't really dislike the short race itself, just the potential for complete carnage.

Ensuring racing laps at the end of the race would be great, but there also has to be a point of not negating tire and strategy advantages/disadvantages. If they red flag under current rules you can change tires, which I really don't think is needed most of the time. If the track is cleaned up and there is no evidence of puncture in the pits, make them race on what they have. The standing start also negates any gaps drivers have pulled, which I really don't like. A bad start after a safety car could ruin a lot of otherwise good races.

Adding two laps could have drivers run out of fuel .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

Adding two laps could have drivers run out of fuel .

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Change the fueling requirement.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by F1nKS

Change the fueling requirement.

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or...we leave things as they are and the race director just follows the rules.
No need to change fuel requirements or add new language or whatever.
Follow the current rules.
There really wasn't a gray area at all. Masi just decided to do his own thing and the cowardly stewards backed him up. Hence creating the sh!tstorm we ended up with.
The fact that he lost his job and it required a whole inquiry as well as making a mockery of the entire season and unfairly benefitting one team, says it all.
When a crime or misdeed is committed, the solutions is not to change the rules so that it normalizes the crime, it is usually to punish the criminal so that it dissuades others from attempting the same malice.
It is also telling that the FIA saw no need to change any of those rules which further proves the damage Masi actually did.

I actually don't like the alternating Race Director. The job is not as complicated as it is now made out to be. inconsistency is going to be an issue. If they wanted to add a second director then there should be 2 at every race along with the support advisor. I guess they will be effectively be 2 at every race. We shall see what happens

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

Adding two laps could have drivers run out of fuel .

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Given that the cars use less fuel under safety car than normal running it shold be easy to come up with a formula like 1 extra lap for every 3 (or 4 or 5 ???) laps under saftey car and not have an issue with cars running out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by truefan72

or...we leave things as they are and the race director just follows the rules.
No need to change fuel requirements or add new language or whatever.

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Why would you ever want to finish the race under a safety car?

Quote:

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Follow the current rules.
There really wasn't a gray area at all

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F1 is constantly changing the rules throughout the season

Quote:

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Masi just decided to do his own thing and the cowardly stewards backed him up. Hence creating the sh!tstorm we ended up with.

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Rules allow the unlapping. The question is do you have to un-lap all the cars or can you do what Massi did and do a partial. Since they didn't reverse the decision then I guess he can.

It is not a shit storm. Ukraine is a shit storm.

Ultimately it was the right thing to do. If you want to call yourself a race, then you race. If you want to do a Sunday drive there are plenty of opportunities to do that - just not as a professional race car driver. Nobody wants to watch Sunday driving.

Massi's mistake was (1) even taking the calls of the team principals during the race, (2) not unlapping all the cars early in the yellow flag when there was plenty of time. He was going to face criticism one way or the other with Mercedes and Red Bull in his ear.

Quote:

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I actually don't like the alternating Race Director. The job is not as complicated as it is now made out to be. inconsistency is going to be an issue. If they wanted to add a second director then there should be 2 at every race along with the support advisor. I guess they will be effectively be 2 at every race. We shall see what happens

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I had read that prior to Massi, there was a race director and an assistant. When Massi got elevated from assistant to race director they didn't backfill his position. In a season where there was a lot of action and highly competitive, he was getting overwhelmed which led to inconsistency throughout the season.

Massi wasn't removed from his position just because of the last race. He was removed because of the job he did for the whole season.

I'd much prefer races finish under green as much as possible myself, but not at the expense of over fueling to allow that to happen. Then the lesser teams and maybe even the bigger teams might roll the dice and add the (regular race distance) normal amount of fuel, betting on a SC not happening at race end. But who knows.... that might spice things up a little if we see some teams carry the extra fuel and other teams don't...

If you start playing with fueling requirements and always force the race to end under green with a minimum number of laps racing, you run into a mess. What if two SC periods happen near the race end?.... etc...



As for Masi being removed, anything stated that it proves is simply speculation. We were given no absolute reasons. Only the people that made that call know for sure. It could have been nothing more than knowing leaving him there would create a crap storm of accusations in the future. For all we know he got a giant bonus and a cushy job with no salary cut. People stating that it absolutely proves something are getting like the media.... claims without sources to back them up IMHO.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by F1nKS

Change the fueling requirement.

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So , how many more laps of fuel would you have them carry , just in case ?

No , I don't think so .
If you relieve the need to take out the lapped drivers , you wouldn't have had the need for more laps at all , and it would be far more fair to those who had done that lapping already .
They already lose whatever distance they had worked to gain from the pack being jammed back together .

Remember , if , on the restart , they had Max still behind the cars Lewis had already gone by , they would still have had to move aside because of blue flags , and Lewis might have had some chance of staying ahead until later in the lap at least .
In that scenario , I still see Max winning it , but at least it would have seemed a little more fair .


I want to add one more thing .
Racing is full of moments that are simultaneously called "lucky" and "totally unfair" .


That race we saw was over when Latifi's incident occurred , had they been consistent with every other situation I recall , having watched for too many years to think about .
I don't particularly like it when a race ends under caution , but it can happen . It's luck , both good and bad , for us , too .
I can handle that disappointment .


In a way , ironically , I'm disappointed that it didn't end in a disappointing finish .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

So , how many more laps of fuel would you have them carry , just in case ?

No , I don't think so .
If you relieve the need to take out the lapped drivers , you wouldn't have had the need for more laps at all , and it would be far more fair to those who had done that lapping already .
They already lose whatever distance they had worked to gain from the pack being jammed back together .

Remember , if , on the restart , they had Max still behind the cars Lewis had already gone by , they would still have had to move aside because of blue flags , and Lewis might have had some chance of staying ahead until later in the lap at least .
In that scenario , I still see Max winning it , but at least it would have seemed a little more fair .


I want to add one more thing .
Racing is full of moments that are simultaneously called "lucky" and "totally unfair" .


That race we saw was over when Latifi's incident occurred , had they been consistent with every other situation I recall , having watched for too many years to think about .
I don't particularly like it when a race ends under caution , but it can happen . It's luck , both good and bad , for us , too .
I can handle that disappointment .


In a way , ironically , I'm disappointed that it didn't end in a disappointing finish .

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Agreed.
and that is not just because Hamilton lost out.
If it went the other way it would be fair as well.
It is part of racing and hence trying to create a "racing finish" in an artificial and unfair manner was by far a much worse outcome than if they just followed procedures.

The Indy 500 has ended on a safety car a number of times.
So have some of NASCAR's biggest races.
Other significant F1 races ended under safety car procedures, which did not denigrate the quality of the race.
Under normal conditions the lead car was miles ahead anyway so why would a safety car finish have altered the outcome or seemed unfair if the 2nd place car was never catching up anyway under racing conditions.

Trying to change regulations to create a ridiculous 1-2 lap shootout is more farcical to me than a race victory earned by great driving.

Something new and seemingly not like the F1 of old is display and media sessions, being dubbed "show and tell" for the cars. The cars will be put on display for a period of time, and any major changes will be highlighted to some degree by a team member. Though they will likely keep the technical level low, it's going to be a chance for more detailed photos and at least some explanation of what is going on and intended changes.

The race director and a FIA delegate will pick various teams for a more in depth Q&A, being required to provide a more senior technical delegate.

I expect them to dumb it down for the masses, but it could be an interesting part of the weekend.