2021 Qatar Grand Prix: Post Race Analysis

[SS454]

Prior to the race the Stewards made decisions to enforce penalties that could have huge impacts on the race, and even the championship. In qualifying, Gasly stopped on the side of the track on the main straight, after a couple of brief yellow flags popping up, it was shown as track safe and all lights were green. As it turns out, a Marshal had thrown a flag coming out of the last corner. Sainz goes through, but slows down in the last 10 meters of the track, Bottas goes through but apparently only 1 flag was waved, Verstappen goes through and apparently double yellows were waved. Result, 5 grid place for VER, 3 for BOT, and nothing for SAI. The fact that the race director ruled the track safe and green should have overruled the Marshal's, who are not trained FIA employees, instead are volunteers at each track. No penalties should have been given. But the inconsistencies of the Stewards and FIA continue to plague the sport.

Mercedes continue their dominance with Hamilton cruising to victory. Even if Max had started P2 I think it was impossible to beat that car in a fair fight. What's scary is Mercedes didn't have their fresh engine from Brazil, nor did they seem to be using their trick collapsible rear suspension, or the supposedly "illegal" rear wing. Mercedes must be feeling pretty confident going into the final 2 races. Poor Bottas can never seem to get any luck. The penalty is what it is, but Bottas has not been the best at starts this season, and his opening lap was dreadful. Fortunately the car was fast and he put himself in a position to fight for P3 until a sudden tire failure destroyed his race. Tough break.

Red Bull are at least continuing to fight with the equipment they have. The first few laps from Max were unbelievable and critical to his championship. Perez did a great job to fight back, but the strategy didn't fall his way in the end.

Alpine had an enormous day. Coming into the race tied with AlphaTauri, Alonso has a superb drive to finish P3, his first podium since 2014. Ocon definitely had a more difficult day and with some good fortune from other's misfortune, was able to finish a strong P5. That's big big points for the team and hopefully some encouragement heading into the final 2 races.

Aston Martin had a good bounce back weekend from Brazil. Stroll really did a very good job and got the most he could have out of the car. Vettel had troubles in the opening laps that put him back in pack but was able to grab that final point. So overall a good day for Aston Martin.

Ferrari had a rough weekend. After some very strong races, the Ferrari just didn't have the pace. Carlos got the maximum out of the car in qualifying, Leclerc had a cracked chassis which forced a change, but neither car was competitive in the race. It's not unreasonable to suspect the cooler track temps do not seem to favor Ferrari relative to their direct competitors. If this is true, then with the next two races being night races, Ferrari could have a challenging end to their season.

McLaren in the end had a rougher weekend to Ferrari. The car looked good, the power was good, and Lando was on form. Unfortunately for Norris, he was bit by a deflating tire and was forced to pit which cost him a lot of points. Unfortunately for the team, Ricciardo fell back to his early season struggles and just could not extract the speed from the car. It's a terrible day when they had the better package over Ferrari and still finish behind in points.

AlphaTauri must feel a bit gutted. Starting P2 and having perhaps the 3rd best car over the last two races, it looked good for a great result. Sadly the car just wasn't there in the race, especially on the hard tires. A better strategy perhaps could have got him points, but looking at Tsunoda who was looking good through practice, also had no fight. This suggests the car just didn't have the pace.

Alfa Romeo also didn't have the same pace as recent. Perhaps it's a case of the Mercedes and Alpine are able to extract more performance in the cooler, denser air than the Ferrari or Honda cars. Sadly, only two races left for Kimi and Gio.

Haas gets a nice 16th place with Schumacher. Of course that came at the bad luck of Williams, but recognize that Mick was a full lap ahead of Mazepin. As many bad weekends as Nikita has had this year, this was one of his worst in terms of just being slow.

Williams just looks off. The power unit is still great, and it's understandable that the team has stopped development a long time ago, but it just seems like the team is not putting any effort into these final races. George Russell can still put in impressive laps in qualifying, but prior to their tire problems was only about 4 seconds ahead of Latifi in the race. That doesn't appear to be the race performances required to challenge Hamilton next year.

Driver Of The Day: Max Verstappen. There was a strong case for Alonso, and Perez, but I give it to Max because despite a harsh penalty that dropped him down to P7 prior to the race, he didn't let it phase him and instead had an incredible start and wasted no time attacking Gasly and Alonso. Once in P2 he was the only guy that could remotely stay in touch with Hamilton. He built a gap big enough to give him the go at fastest lap, and that point could be crucial later on.

[PURE PASSION]

The Ferrari team principal explained that the drivers had been asked not to push to manage tire wear and to make a single stop. https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/binotto-gara-di-gestione-per-fare-una-sosta-sola/6806475/

It looks like we just play it safe, due to the unknowns of the new track . We didn't have much to lose,and us it turned out we kind make the right choice. I don't know how much more pace we had, on the 2nd half of the 2nd stint on hands,we looked goodish So I think this was simply a one off for the team ,but again I see that the team might end up the season like this. We almost have 3d place in our pochet (the teams target for this year) ,so unless we are easily fast (from our direct competitors) in a track we would not push too hard to gain a place or 2 !!!!

[Greig]

Onboard with Max clearly shows double yellows waving, marshalls just turn up on the day and wave some flags though I guess...... no training required. Bit arrogant to suggest these volunteers are not trained to high standards...

[SS454]

Onboard with Max clearly shows double yellows waving, marshalls just turn up on the day and wave some flags though I guess...... no training required. Bit arrogant to suggest these volunteers are not trained to high standards...

Onboard also very clearly shows a green light at the same time. The race director showed the track as safe. It was a mistake, either by the Marshall or the race director or both and unquestionably mixed messages to the drivers. It's unfair to penalize them.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/556132022482108426/911957511333109780/FEt7Ua2WUAIEJAn.png

I suppose it can be your opinion as what you qualify is a "high standard". The FIA have shown time and time again that they themselves who are supposed to be experts make mistakes regularly. The point was that it is unfair to put sole blame on the marshal as they are volunteers who are not a specifically trained team that travels with the F1 circus. It is the FIA's responsibility to ensure the correct message and state of the track is clearly known to the drivers. If that means throw a full yellow and stop all drivers from speeding along their current lap, so be it.

[Greig]

Onboard also very clearly shows a green light at the same time. The race director showed the track as safe. It was a mistake, either by the Marshall or the race director or both and unquestionably mixed messages to the drivers. It's unfair to penalize them.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/556132022482108426/911957511333109780/FEt7Ua2WUAIEJAn.png

I suppose it can be your opinion as what you qualify is a "high standard". The FIA have shown time and time again that they themselves who are supposed to be experts make mistakes regularly. The point was that it is unfair to put sole blame on the marshal as they are volunteers who are not a specifically trained team that travels with the F1 circus. It is the FIA's responsibility to ensure the correct message and state of the track is clearly known to the drivers. If that means throw a full yellow and stop all drivers from speeding along their current lap, so be it.

There is double yellows waving you can't just ignore them it was a mistake by the drivers not to react to the flags being waved. Vettel for example managed to lift off when seeing the flags. Marshall posts and flags are far more important than race control messages. Have you done any marshall training to base your opinion on? You know the FIA is not just in F1 right? there is plenty of other series and events that fall under the FIA umbrella...marshalls do not need to follow the F1 circus to be well aware of FIA/safety standards.

[Alonsomaniac]

Onboard also very clearly shows a green light at the same time. The race director showed the track as safe. It was a mistake, either by the Marshall or the race director or both and unquestionably mixed messages to the drivers. It's unfair to penalize them.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/556132022482108426/911957511333109780/FEt7Ua2WUAIEJAn.png

I suppose it can be your opinion as what you qualify is a "high standard". The FIA have shown time and time again that they themselves who are supposed to be experts make mistakes regularly. The point was that it is unfair to put sole blame on the marshal as they are volunteers who are not a specifically trained team that travels with the F1 circus. It is the FIA's responsibility to ensure the correct message and state of the track is clearly known to the drivers. If that means throw a full yellow and stop all drivers from speeding along their current lap, so be it.


It has nothing to do with opinion, but everything with the rules. There is only one thing that really counts and that is the flag. Flags have priority. When the flag is yellow, the tracksituation is yellow, no matter what dashlights or tracklights say.
There is a good reason for that: marshalls have eyes, they see what happens at the spot and they react to that. Lights are a nice aid to that, but they are electrical so they can fail.
So the flag was yellow, the dashlights I don't know and the tracklights I don't know for sure either. There was a green light at the right, but that was the light showing pitlane was open and safe.
Conclusion: it was yellow, penalties are right.

And what you say about marshalls: yes, all marshalls on all tracks are volunteers. Volunteers who know "their track" very well, who know the rules very well and are very high trained "professionals" in what they do. They just do it without being paid.

[tifosi1993]

Well it's up to the drivers to adhere to the rules and regulations. "It would impact the championship" is not a get out of the jail free card. Max has broken a very important rule, which is to slow down under the double yellow. He had already lost a pole two years ago by doing the same mistake.

The Merc and Red Bull are pretty much neck-neck. Perez had the measure of Bottas in the last 3 races. And I don't think many would argue Perez to be the better driver than Bottas. So it's quite laughable to suggest that Hamilton is winning races because of his car and Max is winning races because of Max himself.

I think the WDC will go down to the wire. The last lap at Abu Dhabi will decide the outcome. But whoever wins will deserve it.

[jgonzalesm6]

Well it's up to the drivers to adhere to the rules and regulations. "It would impact the championship" is not a get out of the jail free card. Max has broken a very important rule, which is to slow down under the double yellow. He had already lost a pole two years ago by doing the same mistake..

Bottas and Max were penalized. What happened in Qatar DID'NT happen 2 years ago with Max. 2 years ago, I'm sure the screens and warning lights on the steering wheel were working. In Qatar(night) the technical systems were not working properly to warn the drivers...but the stewards did'nt take that into account. There's a YouTube video of several drivers in Qatar showing the technical systems not working. Sainz was the only one that got a radio message from the pits to SLOW DOWN.....the other did'nt get a radio message.

And before you go on your typical rant about Max this or Max that, this happened to several drivers BUT only Bottas and Max got penalized.

Here's that streamable video once again with several drivers and the double waved yellows.

https://streamable.com/ojxzfj




The Merc and Red Bull are pretty much neck-neck. Perez had the measure of Bottas in the last 3 races. And I don't think many would argue Perez to be the better driver than Bottas. So it's quite laughable to suggest that Hamilton is winning races because of his car and Max is winning races because of Max himself. ..

The Merc and RedBull ARE NOT neck-n-neck with that beast of an engine(#5)......it is dominant and that engine will be used in the remaining races.

[Greig]

And before you go on your typical rant about Max this or Max that, this happened to several drivers BUT only Bottas and Max got penalized.



Why would those who slowed down when seeing the flags be punished? Max and Bottas were the only ones who did not slow....that is why they got a penalty.

[jgonzalesm6]

Why would those who slowed down when seeing the flags be punished? Max and Bottas were the only ones who did not slow....that is why they got a penalty.

Ocon(???) did'nt slow down per the streamable video. Vettel did'nt slow down per the streamable video. Norris did''nt slow down per the streamable video Alonso slows down and gets a radio message to slow down. Bottas does'nt slow down. Sainz the radio message says "stay to the left"

The drivers I mentioned are in that order per the streamable video.

[Greig]

Ocon(???) did'nt slow down per the streamable video. Vettel did'nt slow down per the streamable video. Norris did''nt slow down per the streamable video Alonso slows down and gets a radio message to slow down. Bottas does'nt slow down. Sainz the radio message says "stay to the left"

The drivers I mentioned are in that order per the streamable video.

Well yes they did or they would have got a penalty...

Vettel never slowed down? You best tell him that...I can't be bothered looking at the others when you just make up what you want to believe regardless...


"It was just a bit disappointing to have the yellow flag. "I don’t know if it was a single yellow or double yellow, but if there’s a car standing on track, then it should be a double yellow – and double yellows are ‘abort the lap’ so I lifted.

[jgonzalesm6]

Well yes they did or they would have got a penalty...

Vettel never slowed down? You best tell him that...I can't be bothered looking at the others when you just make up what you want to believe regardless...

The video tells otherwise as the only one that lifts is Alonso.....way before he gets to Gasly......and you can here his engine whine way down as opposed to the others.

[Greig]

The video tells otherwise as the only one that lifts is Alonso.....way before he gets to Gasly......and you can here his engine whine way down as opposed to the others.

:lol

[SS454]

There is double yellows waving you can't just ignore them it was a mistake by the drivers not to react to the flags being waved. Vettel for example managed to lift off when seeing the flags. Marshall posts and flags are far more important than race control messages. Have you done any marshall training to base your opinion on? You know the FIA is not just in F1 right? there is plenty of other series and events that fall under the FIA umbrella...marshalls do not need to follow the F1 circus to be well aware of FIA/safety standards.

Have you ever been on a track day? It sure doesn't seem like it, otherwise you would know how easy it can be to miss flags coming out of the last corner, where the flag stand is blind until you come onto the straight. Surely in the drivers meeting the drivers are told where the stands are, and where the yellow caution lights are situated. Standard practice is that the the big giant lights flash yellow when there is a caution, and you can clearly see that takes place when Vettel goes by. Also the drivers are supposed to have lights on the dash that show a caution is out. Also, there is enough information present that the team can report to their driver of a caution ahead. This is a standard practice that teams have cemented in their head. To blame the driver that is giving 100% focus on his lap at 150 mph when he has no warning from team, no flashing yellow, no dash light, and quite possibly his eyes were looking to the right at the parked car rather than to the left at the marshal stand.

And marshals do 100% need to follow the FIA's safety standards. This may shock you, but not all tracks follow the exact same procedures for flags. It's not unusual the flags can be slightly different from track to track, event to event. The flags and procedures absolutely need to comply to how F1 do things.

[SS454]

Well yes they did or they would have got a penalty...

Vettel never slowed down? You best tell him that...I can't be bothered looking at the others when you just make up what you want to believe regardless...

Vettel has a big flashing yellow light, and flies by the parked car and then immediately slows down. Vettel had warning and time to slow BEFORE the incident.

Sainz does not have a flashing light and goes flying by the parked car and doesn't slow down until just before the start finish line. Sainz ignored the flags and was even given a warning by his team to stay left and was at max speed going by the incident.

You say both complied?

[Greig]

Vettel has a big flashing yellow light, and flies by the parked car and then immediately slows down. Vettel had warning and time to slow BEFORE the incident.

Sainz does not have a flashing light and goes flying by the parked car and doesn't slow down until just before the start finish line. Sainz ignored the flags and was even given a warning by his team to stay left and was at max speed going by the incident.

You say both complied?

Sainz was investigated was he not? Are you saying the FIA ignored others just to pick on Max and Bottas?

[SS454]

Who knows why the FIA made the decisions they did. Clearly there are lots of opinions.
What is a undisputed fact is that Sainz had no yellow lights, ignored the flags and went past Gasly's car at Max speed, DRS open and did not slow down until just before the start finish line.

[jgonzalesm6]

Sainz was investigated was he not? Are you saying the FIA ignored others just to pick on Max and Bottas?

They have made mistakes before and this one is not an exception. The video posted does'nt lie and it is hard to refute the video.

[Greig]

Who knows why the FIA made the decisions they did. Clearly there are lots of opinions.
What is a undisputed fact is that Sainz had no yellow lights, ignored the flags and went past Gasly's car at Max speed, DRS open and did not slow down until just before the start finish line.

Maybe the FIA has more info and data than you do?


"The stewards heard from the driver of Car 55 [Carlos Sainz], the team representative and have reviewed video, marshalling system and telemetry evidence," read a statement from the stewards. "The driver stated that although he did not see the yellow flag, he did see that Car 10 [Gasly] was stationary on the right of the pit straight and therefore assumed that there was the probability that he was in a yellow flag area, so made a significant reduction in speed in the relevant mini-sector.

"The stewards confirmed this from the telemetry. He thus complied with the Race Directors' Event Notes and Appendix H of the International Sporting Code."

[jgonzalesm6]

"The stewards heard from the driver of Car 55 [Carlos Sainz], the team representative and have reviewed video, marshalling system and telemetry evidence," read a statement from the stewards. "The driver stated that although he did not see the yellow flag, he did see that Car 10 [Gasly] was stationary on the right of the pit straight and therefore assumed that there was the probability that he was in a yellow flag area, so made a significant reduction in speed in the relevant mini-sector.

So let's break this down:

1) Sainz sdmittingly said he did'nt see the yellow flags either. (no suprise there)

2) After passing Gasly, that's when Sainz slows down. (I guess that makes it all better to not penalize Sainz. So let me get this straight, if a yellow flag or double yellow flag is waved AND YOU PASS THE INCIDENT without lifting BUT THEN lift after Sainz passes Gasly then that's okay according to the stewards.....yeah, uh-huh that makes alot of sense and safe.)

Had the screens and the warning lights on the steering wheel of said drivers been working properly, then we would have gotten a better consensus of said drivers BEFORE approaching Gasly BY LIFTING rather than not lifting and in Sainz case lifting AFTER THE FACT.

The FIA and stewards mucked this up big time.

[SS454]

"The stewards heard from the driver of Car 55 [Carlos Sainz], the team representative and have reviewed video, marshalling system and telemetry evidence," read a statement from the stewards. "The driver stated that although he did not see the yellow flag, he did see that Car 10 [Gasly] was stationary on the right of the pit straight and therefore assumed that there was the probability that he was in a yellow flag area, so made a significant reduction in speed in the relevant mini-sector.

So let's break this down:

1) Sainz sdmittingly said he did'nt see the yellow flags either. (no suprise there)

2) After passing Gasly, that's when Sainz slows down. (I guess that makes it all better to not penalize Sainz. So let me get this straight, if a yellow flag or double yellow flag is waved AND YOU PASS THE INCIDENT without lifting BUT THEN lift after Sainz passes Gasly then that's okay according to the stewards.....yeah, uh-huh that makes alot of sense and safe.)

Had the screens and the warning lights on the steering wheel of said drivers been working properly, then we would have gotten a better consensus of said drivers BEFORE approaching Gasly BY LIFTING rather than not lifting and in Sainz case lifting AFTER THE FACT.

The FIA and stewards mucked this up big time.

x2

[tifosi1993]

Bottas and Max were penalized. What happened in Qatar DID'NT happen 2 years ago with Max. 2 years ago, I'm sure the screens and warning lights on the steering wheel were working. In Qatar(night) the technical systems were not working properly to warn the drivers...but the stewards did'nt take that into account. There's a YouTube video of several drivers in Qatar showing the technical systems not working. Sainz was the only one that got a radio message from the pits to SLOW DOWN.....the other did'nt get a radio message.

And before you go on your typical rant about Max this or Max that, this happened to several drivers BUT only Bottas and Max got penalized.

Here's that streamable video once again with several drivers and the double waved yellows.

https://streamable.com/ojxzfj

Spoken like a true Red Bull foot soldier. I hope they're paying you enough for your adherent defense of Max and Red Bull here.

I have a very simple question: "Did Max saw the double yellows being waved by the marshal ?", If the answer is yes, which it is, since Max himself admitted it, then he deserved to get the penalty, which he did.

And since you're crying so much about technical system's shortcomings, here's another question. Did the FIA replaced race marshals with the notification devices that have been placed on the circuit? The answer is, NO. Race marshals waving the Yellow/Red flags are always going to take precedence over the LED lighting systems.

Max saw the marshals waving the double yellows but ignored it and then paid the price. There was no protest from either Red Bull or Max. So the chapter is closed. But your persistent crying and moaning about it is quite comical. So do carry on and continue wasting your time.


The Merc and RedBull ARE NOT neck-n-neck with that beast of an engine(#5)......it is dominant and that engine will be used in the remaining races.

Yeah, the #5 engine, the divine piece of machinery that will propel Hamilton to an unreachable height, with it's extra HP and torque. :rotfl

Good job at copy pasting Horner and Marko's "views" here. As I've said already, I hope Red Bull is paying their loyal foot soldiers well enough.

[jgonzalesm6]

Spoken like a true Red Bull foot soldier. I hope they're paying you enough for your adherent defense of Max and Red Bull here.

I have a very simple question: "Did Max saw the double yellows being waved by the marshal ?", If the answer is yes, which it is, since Max himself admitted it, then he deserved to get the penalty, which he did.

And since you're crying so much about technical system's shortcomings, here's another question. Did the FIA replaced race marshals with the notification devices that have been placed on the circuit? The answer is, NO. Race marshals waving the Yellow/Red flags are always going to take precedence over the LED lighting systems.

Max saw the marshals waving the double yellows but ignored it and then paid the price. There was no protest from either Red Bull or Max. So the chapter is closed. But your persistent crying and moaning about it is quite comical. So do carry on and continue wasting your time.



Yeah, the #5 engine, the divine piece of machinery that will propel Hamilton to an unreachable height, with it's extra HP and torque. :rotfl

Good job at copy pasting Horner and Marko's "views" here. As I've said already, I hope Red Bull is paying their loyal foot soldiers well enough.

RedBull foot solder??? please:roll My arguement is the video posted that refutes the MOCKERY of the FIA and stewards during the Qatar qualifying yellow flags fiasco.


Sainz did'nt even see the yellow flags and he admitted it......several drivers did'nt see the yellow flags. Did you not see the video????

Did'nt you see Lewis in Brazil with the #5 engine in the W12??? Other's did on this forum in the Brazil race.....or are you blind to see that as well??:roll

[Greig]

"The stewards heard from the driver of Car 55 [Carlos Sainz], the team representative and have reviewed video, marshalling system and telemetry evidence," read a statement from the stewards. "The driver stated that although he did not see the yellow flag, he did see that Car 10 [Gasly] was stationary on the right of the pit straight and therefore assumed that there was the probability that he was in a yellow flag area, so made a significant reduction in speed in the relevant mini-sector.

So let's break this down:

1) Sainz sdmittingly said he did'nt see the yellow flags either. (no suprise there)

2) After passing Gasly, that's when Sainz slows down. (I guess that makes it all better to not penalize Sainz. So let me get this straight, if a yellow flag or double yellow flag is waved AND YOU PASS THE INCIDENT without lifting BUT THEN lift after Sainz passes Gasly then that's okay according to the stewards.....yeah, uh-huh that makes alot of sense and safe.)

Had the screens and the warning lights on the steering wheel of said drivers been working properly, then we would have gotten a better consensus of said drivers BEFORE approaching Gasly BY LIFTING rather than not lifting and in Sainz case lifting AFTER THE FACT.

The FIA and stewards mucked this up big time.

Let's break it down in easy to follow steps.

Some drivers went past with no yellows, no yellows means no need to lift off therefore no penalty.

Sainz went past and lifted and telemetry showed it, he complied with the rules therefore no penalty.

Max and Bottas went past with yellow flags waving and did not lift off, therefore breaking the rules and incurring a penalty.

I am not sure how you and the other find this hard to understand.

[jgonzalesm6]

Let's break it down in easy to follow steps.

Some drivers went passed with no yellows, no yellows means no need to lift off therefore no penalty.

Sainz went passed and lifted and telemetry showed it, he complied with the rules therefore no penalty.

Max and Bottas went passed with yellow flags waving and did not lift off, therefore breaking the rules and incurring a penalty.

I am not sure how you and the other find this hard to understand.

There were no yellows with other drivers BECAUSE THE SYSTEM WAS DOWN....it had technical difficulties....BUT GASLY WAS PARKED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.

Sainz lifted AFTER THE FACT.

It's not hard to understand when the FIA and stewards did'nt take into the SYSTEM BEING DOWN due to technical difficulties.

[Greig]

There were no yellows with other drivers BECAUSE THE SYSTEM WAS DOWN....it had technical difficulties....BUT GASLY WAS PARKED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.

Sainz lifted AFTER THE FACT.

It's not hard to understand when the FIA and stewards did'nt take into the SYSTEM BEING DOWN due to technical difficulties.

The marshall post was still able to wave yellows.....again why are you finding this hard to understand?

Sainz did not break the rules, no penalty no matter how many times you want to try and twist it.

[jgonzalesm6]

The marshall post was still able to wave yellows.....again why are you finding this hard to understand?

Sainz did not break the rules, no penalty no matter how many times you want to try and twist it.

There is no "twisting" the matter. The video does'nt lie. I'm just stating facts.

You have your opinion and I have mine.

[Greig]

There is no "twisting" the matter. The video does'nt lie. I'm just stating facts.

You have your opinion and I have mine.

Facts like the FIA investigation into it? They have telemetry you have a video....

Max and Bottas were the only ones to ignore the yellow and got punished.

[jgonzalesm6]

Facts like the FIA investigation into it? They have telemetry you have a video....

Max and Bottas were the only ones to ignore the yellow and got punished.

We're all human and we're all capable of making mistakes to include the FIA and it's stewards.

[Greig]

We're all human and we're all capable of making mistakes to include the FIA and it's stewards.

Yeah like Max and Bottas done, telemetry is fact.

[tifosi1993]

RedBull foot solder??? please:roll My arguement is the video posted that refutes the MOCKERY of the FIA and stewards during the Qatar qualifying yellow flags fiasco.


Sainz did'nt even see the yellow flags and he admitted it......several drivers did'nt see the yellow flags. Did you not see the video????

Did'nt you see Lewis in Brazil with the #5 engine in the W12??? Other's did on this forum in the Brazil race.....or are you blind to see that as well??:roll

Again, did or didn't Max noticed the yellow flags being waved by the race marshals?

You know the answer. So give it a rest.

[jgonzalesm6]

Yeah like Max and Bottas done, telemetry is fact.

Agreed on that telemetry is fact, but no one lifted, except Alonso, BEFORE Gasly. The video has audio as well and you can hear all the drivers, except Alonso, NOT LIFTING.

I guess 2 of you regarding this matter that's it's okay, regarding this qualifying, to pass a car that is still on the track, at a high rate of speed down a long straight with a DRS zone and in Sainz case, lift after the fact of passing Gasly's car with mitigating circumstances regarding the warning system technicallity. So much for safety.:roll


Again, did or didn't Max noticed the yellow flags being waved by the race marshals?

You know the answer. So give it a rest.

No one noticed the yellow flags. Alonso slowed down because he got a radio message from his pit crew WAY BEFORE REACHING GASLY.

[Greig]

Just make up what you want...the ones not lifting had no yellows so no need to lift hence not investigated...duh.

[SS454]

Just make up what you want...the ones not lifting had no yellows so no need to lift hence not investigated...duh.

He's not making it up. It's clearly shown and seen in the video.

Vettel had a yellow light and lifted AFTER passing Gasly
Norris had a brief yellow light and then it went away, he did not lift
Alonso had no yellow lights or flags and lifted BEFORE passing Gasly
Sainz had no yellow lights, but a yellow flag and lifted AFTER passing Gasly. In fact he passed Gasly at over 275 kph.

This is a nice detailed analysis
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/qycsu4/detailed_analysis_on_the_yellow_flag_incident/

In the article, it is mentioned that in Austria 2020, Hamilton ignored yellow flags and was cleared of penalty because he stated that a green flag was showing. Conflicting information and therefore the stewards did not award a penalty. As it turns out this wasn't true and the onboards proved it, Red Bull protested and a 3 place grid penalty was given.

[Greig]

So everyone lifted apart from Max and Bottas.....strange they were the ones to get a penalty then wasn't it.

[SS454]

Again, did or didn't Max noticed the yellow flags being waved by the race marshals?

You know the answer. So give it a rest.

Can you post where Max admitted he saw the yellow flags? I haven't seen that.

[jgonzalesm6]

excerpts from the article. At least Brundle feels the same way as a couple of us on this forum.

Brundle critical of 'harsh' Verstappen grid penalty

Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas were both handed grid penalties for the Qatar Grand Prix after failing to slow for yellow flags in qualifying, but Martin Brundle didn't entirely agree with these punishments.

"Mitigating circumstances"

Brundle believes that there were "mitigating circumstances" that would have made it challenging for the drivers to see the flags.

"I'm a fully paid up advocate that yellow flags must be respected as an absolute priority, but from the cockpit on Sunday the drivers would have been on their final qualifying effort exiting the last corner with no visible flags, no incident warning lights on their steering wheel or messages from the pit wall," the former F1 driver explained.

He added that they also had to deal with "a blaze of red lights in the night time sky at the finish line indicating the qualifying session is over (one red light and the chequered flag would be sufficient), spotting the DRS activation line which had been re-enabled, pulling up through the gears, whilst then working out what that car (Pierre Gasly's three-wheeling AlphaTauri) on the right-hand side was actually doing.

"There were mitigating circumstances to say the least and, with no trackside yellow warning panels, but green panels on the pit wall for the pitlane weighbridge, I would have missed the relatively poorly lit sole marshal post correctly waving a flag or flags on the left-hand side every time."


More confusion

The fact that Sainz was not punished, whilst Verstappen and Bottas were, is something that Brundle thinks makes the whole situation even more confusing.

However, he also acknowledges that the fact that this was Formula 1's first visit to the Losail International Circuit may have added to the difficulties in making such decisions.

"The fact that Carlos Sainz was exonerated because he lifted off the throttle after the stationary car rather underlines the confusion, but rules are rules I guess," Brundle said.

"We were at a brand-new to F1 venue late to the calendar and that showed.

https://racingnews365.com/brundle-critical-of-harsh-verstappen-grid-penalty

[20000rpm]

Just curious.. did RB or Mercs give a clarification or appeal as to why didn't they slow down?

[jgonzalesm6]

Just curious.. did RB or Mercs give a clarification or appeal as to why didn't they slow down?

Horner did (clarification) in a not so "elegant" way and got a warning from Masi because Horner "called out" the marshall waving the yellow flags. There's quite a few articles on the matter.

[20000rpm]

Oh... Now I get why those "Masi was ****** with Horner" videos circulation on YT.

[Brembo]

Just curious.. did RB or Mercs give a clarification or appeal as to why didn't they slow down?
They were to preoccupied counting WDC & WCC points during the whole race.

[Cavallino]

I don't have all the facts, but no one even mentions Norris in this.