The entire off season has been plagued by a single word in the F1 sporting regulations. In particular that word is “any” and it was previously found in article 55.13. The argument was that this word was ambiguous, and allowed Michael Masi to determine that only the front five lapped cars would be given a wave-around, thus in effect handing the championship to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, because “any doesn’t necessarily mean all”. F1 said fuck that and deliberately changed the wording of that article from any to all, thus putting to bed any ambiguity.
There’s no going back on the ridiculous outcome of the final lap of the 2021 season, but to make sure that bullshit never happens again the FIA has amended the rule to specify that all lapped cars must be waved by the leader when it is safe to do so. This change was made as a result of discussion with all of the teams, and much debate within the FIA itself. The change made its appearance on Tuesday, when the finalized 2022 FIA F1 Sporting Regulations were published.
The rule now reads as follows:
“If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message ‘LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE’ has been sent to all competitors using the official messaging system, all cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.”
This now marks the second time in the last month that F1 has had to make a rule change because of some fucked up shit Michael Masi did during the 2021 season. If the 2022 rules package had been in effect during the 2021 season, Max Verstappen would have ended the season on 376 points to Lewis Hamilton’s 387.
Two additional rules were changed by F1 pertaining to post-race actions by drivers. The first requires that all podium ceremonies and post-race interviews be conducted with drivers wearing their driving suits “done up to the neck, not opened to the waist” which is a bullshit way of preventing drivers, particularly Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, from wearing protest t-shirts under their suits. The third major change is the result of Verstappen touching Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes in perc ferme following the Brazillian Grand Prix, and the new rule states “Drivers must not interfere with parc ferme protocols in any way.”
So that’s one rule change that admits what F1 did last year was wrong, one rule change that admits F1 doesn’t care about the social causes its drivers support, and one rule that is just fine. Good work, fellas. Let’s try not to fuck it up worse this year, eh? No pressure.
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