© Wolfgang Wilhelm for Daimler AG
By Bonnie Cehovet
“Toto, it’s called a motor race.”
Those are the now-famous words that ended the 2021 F1 season in Abu Dhabi. Those who were there, as well as those who were watching remotely, were left sitting there, stunned. What on earth had just happened! The announcers were trying to dance faster to keep up, and they had no clue. The drivers had no clue. No one had a clue!
The furies were unleashed by the manner in which Max Verstappen and Red Bull won that race. Not the fact that he won the race, but the manner in which he won. There were calls for race director Michael Masi’s resignation/termination, screaming to the rooftop about F1 rules not being followed, that F1 was imploding, and more.
After the race, Lewis Hamilton, along with his father, Anthony Hamilton, went over to shake hands and congratulate Max Verstappen and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. Grace personified.
Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff did not attend the FIA prize-giving ceremony for the 2021 F1 season. Since it is mandated that all top three drivers from all FIA sanctioned series must attend, there was talk about how this would be handled – with a fine, or in some other manner. To date, there has been no decision here. Lewis will handle it well, whatever the decision is.
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Another off-shoot of the manner in which Max Verstappen won was the fact that Nicholas Latifi, the driver involved in the crash that brought out the safety car, began receiving hate mail and death threats. He had to hire security for a public outing in December of 2021. He also deleted Twitter and Instagram from his phone, to give himself some distance from social media. Lewis Hamilton and other members of the Mercedes team have reached out to Latifi. Lewis Hamilton has also reached out to social media to do more to make changes, to be aware of mental health issues, and to not allow things like this to happen.
So how do we move forward into 2022? We are just now being assured that Lewis is driving in 2022. Throughout the winter break there were rumors of his retirement, rumors that he would not come back unless Michael Masi was replaced… all kinds of rumors! However, Lewis is back, and he is in a good place. I check for information on Lewis Hamilton every day. I love his interviews, I love the presentation Mercedes did on their 2022 car, and I love that he handed his phone over to Roscoe to start posting again on Instagram. Go, Roscoe!
The FIA took its own sweet time, but it has made rule changes that leave a little less “wiggle room”. Michael Masi has been replaced by veterans Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich, who will be ‘refereeing’ alternating races. Working with them will be Herbie Blash as a senior advisor.
Another innovation for 2022 is the implementation of a VAR-style virtual room to assist the race directors. It will sit outside the circuit and use a real-time link with the race director to enforce rules using modern technological tools.
Along with these changes, the FIA has a new president – Mohammed Ben Sulayem. He has had to hit the ground running with the fiasco that was Abu Dhabi and has done very well. After a recent meeting in London Ben Sulayem noted that he felt Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner were “in harmony”.
As of 2022, Mercedes has a new driver – George Russell. We can only hope that we don’t see a remake of the Nico Rosberg / Lewis Hamilton years. Truth be told, we have an experienced driver at the top of his game, and a driver of the next generation with great skills and abilities. They are there to support each other and to make sure that Mercedes continues to be a winning team. I think they can do this.
So what can we do as fans to start this year out right? We can stand by our team and stand by our drivers. We can cheer for the (ever expanding) midfield drivers, of which some very outstanding personalities are emerging. We can support FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and the new race directors Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich. We can give the new system a chance.
Be sure to visit SilverArrows.net Member Bonnie Cehovet’s website bonniecehovet-author.com!
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of SilverArrows.Net.
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