Both Red Bull and Mercedes made their strategy calls correctly according to the available information and the then current situation.
Max in the Red Bull was behind, they have enough of a gap to 3rd for a tire change, so why not. Perfect call. No brainer. As it stood, they would have finished in 2nd place no matter what, so why not gamble when it's a freebie.
Hamilton in the Mercedes don't have enough of a gap for a tire change to come back out in 1st place. They had no reason to change tires that late in the race when the safety car was deployed. Why give up track position for no reason other than fresh tires? Especially when Hamilton is known for delivering quick laps even on worn tires, he is best on the grid in doing so, with Perez a close second.
So Hamilton stayed out, while Max went in. When Hamilton came back around again, the gap is even smaller with the safety car bunching the cars up. The rule book and regulations are a known entity, every team read it inside out outside in and plan their strategies according to the SAME rule book.
As the field come around again and again, the wreck still hasn't been cleared. It will take more time. EVERYONE in the pit lane knows the procedures as dictated by FIA's rule book, it's black and white. The Race Director can either keep the lapped cars where they are when he decided to call the safety car in, or if he wishes to wave them through, ANY lapped cars, not just the ones in between 1st and 2nd place, will need to pass the safety car and circle around and then the safety car pull into the pits the FOLLOWING lap. There is no ifs buts whatabouts in the rule book. It's crystal clear. Mercedes made their strategy call based on the same rule book followed by all 10 teams and the FIA, so they also made the perfect call to keep Hamilton out.
BUT, the rulebook got changed, bent, modified.
Masi only let the cars between 1st and 2nd place through, while keeping the cars between 2nd and 3rd place. Those cars there are also lapped, so they are part of the ANY category in the description for ANY LAPPED CARS.
Basically Masi committed 2 mistakes. One he didn't waved ALL the ANY category cars through, and also he incorrectly ordered the safety car in without regards to the wording on the rule book for safety car coming in the FOLLOWING lap after he waved lapped cars.
The whole mess is Masi's own doing. It doesn't matter if Max wins or Hamilton wins. Masi didn't follow FIA's regulations. Yes he has a mandate to try and have the race finished under racing conditions, which he clearly was rushing things to try and fit the racing lap in before the end while short cutting the rules. He wasn't on purpose trying to help Max, maybe he was but that's up for debate, for eons, to me that's just the unwanted consequence.
Anyways, he had ample chances to change the safety car laps into a red flag event. Like after the first pass. He would have noticed the crew isn't going as quickly as he had hoped when clearing the wreck. Or even the second pass. Stopping the race would have given him enough time to decide things and crew clearing the track. he would have at least 1 lap, if not 2, or even 3 laps in racing condition.
Had he done that, he would have gotten the shootout exciting finish Liberty Media wanted. But as it stands, he bent the FIA rules and also clouded Max's achievement. There will forever be an asterisk to Max's 1st title because of him. And while Max really wanted his first title, he really doesn't want the controversies. He wanted a clean win.
Moot point now. History has already been written. The asterisk will always be there, Masi gifted Max Verstappen his first title.
Now even if the Court of Appeals will reversed the results, does Hamilton wanted his 8th to have an asterisk next to it? Of course not. He already has 7, nice to have #8 this year but not desperate for it like Max was desperate for his first. And he would much rather earn #8 nice and clean instead of going for technicality. Much more satisfying to see his 8th being clean while Max earned his 1st with an asterisk.
Max will need to win his 2nd to clear things up for good, the blunder by Masi will be forgotten. It's what happened with Hamilton when he won his first with the Glock thing. But once he start winning with Mercedes on his 2nd, and 3rd and all the way to his 7th, nothing else matters. He switched teams and still winning.
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