The FIA will present the findings of their investigation into the handling of the Safety Car period in the Abu Dhabi GP 2021 on February 14 (Monday) to the teams.
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McLaren F1 team principal Andreas Seidl wants Formula 1 to ‘close the topic’ of the Abu Dhabi GP in 2021.
The FIA will present the findings of their investigation into the handling of the Safety Car period in the Abu Dhabi GP on February 14 (Monday) to the teams.
Race director Michael Masi has come under plenty of criticism due to his handling of the race. And it is believed that many – including Mercedes – want him removed.
But before that can happen, the FIA’s investigation must be completed. And, one way or another, Seidl wants the sport to bring about some closure to the topic.
“It is clear what happened in Abu Dhabi was very controversial and was not good for the sport,” Seidl told media at the McLaren car launch.
“Because of the analysis that is ongoing and this still being an open case, I don’t want to go too much into detail in judging what happened there exactly.
“It’s important now to wait for Monday. Then, hopefully, we can close this topic with a good analysis from the FIA; with some good steps of how we can improve for the future.”
Seidl also said that the Abu Dhabi GP wasn’t the only time last season when questionable things took place. The solution? To make the rules simpler and give the race director more support.
“If you look at the whole season last year, a lot of controversial things happened, which overall were not good for the sport.
“We need to invest time and energy on the team side, together with the FIA, to make sure we understand what happened throughout the season and see how we can help.
“By making the regulations less complex, by giving more support to the race director, and by giving more support also to the stewards to avoid these controversies, to avoid also mistakes from happening, by simply making it easier in terms of policing or the application of rules.”
What the FIA decides to do now is key not just for the sport, but also Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion has been non-comittal about a return to the sport.
He does still have two years on his deal with Mercedes. However, multiple reports have made clear he is waiting for the findings to be revealed. Only then will he take a call on his F1 career.
In the mean time, Hamilton has returned to social media. In the aftermath of F1’s season finale, he had stopped posting across all platforms.
