FIA make sure Verstappen wins drivers championship

[Monty]

So the FIA Have got what they wanted- Max with a Championship that he has actually won rather than getting it handed to him due to FIA incompetence. However; to do that they cause more outrage by making a decision in seconds to penalise LeClerc. They have been incapable of making quick decisions all season but in Japan; and in favour of Red Bull, miraculously they can penalise Ferrari immediately. No video reviews; no discussion with drivers; no allowance for conditions - just make sure Verstappen wins the WDC!!!!

[rmassart]

Well to be fair, in this case, it was pretty clear cut. Leclerc missed the chicane, so would probably have been instructed to let Perez by anyway if it hadn't been the final corner.

The really interesting part comes later today when the FIA are supposed to give their OK (or not) on the RB financials...

[Jericoke]

I honestly feel like it took too long to make the decision.  It was clear cut, so either give the penalty while the drivers are still cooling down, so we get that moment with the driver and team principle, or don't give the penalty at all.  Waiting a few minutes robs us of one of the most unique moments in all of sport:  watching an isolated individual realize they've become champion.

Most sports are team sports, and even the 'solo' sports have the athlete out with the crowd, so the celebration is communal.  F1 gives us that moment that few other sports can, and Max was robbed of it, Christian was robbed of it, and hundreds of millions of F1 fans were robbed of it.

[Dare]

Even Leclerc said he made a mistake and the penalty was fair.
I don't think the ruling affected the outcome of this years WDC.
If Max didn't wrap it up this week he would have next week or the
week after. Seems like the world is following the US, if you don't win it's rigged

[cosworth151]

I agree that Charles was in the wrong. I'm just glad they got it corrected before the podium.

[Willy]

They were correct in the penalty as Charles cut the corner and did not give it back, (actually Perez was not totally ahead from my view, only beside at best) but as it was the last corner there was no time for any radio chatter to that effect.
I was a tad miffed that the announcers did not take the time to explain why this penalty gave Max the championship immediately.
The post-race pitlane interviews were happening and as soon they ended it should have been explained. 
I suppose the F1 TV guys are just as confused as the rest of us.

[Monty]

Perez clearly contravened safety car rules last race but it took the FIA until the end of the race to make a decision (which then conveniently favoured a Red Bull result).
I think Ferrari could have made a case that LeClerc didn’t gain a lasting advantage (it would have been a very thin case - but all the same😉).
My problem (again) is lack of consistency.
Anyway; it is all fairly irrelevant now that we know that RBR have cheated their way to two Championships by exceeding the budget cap - (just the mere $7.25 million). Ferrari reckon that even an extra spend of $5million would give any team a gain of almost 0.5seconds a lap.

[cosworth151]

What I'm waiting for now - Since a major ruling went against Ferrari, how long until they start threatening to leave F1 and go to IndyCar? 

[Jericoke]

What I'm waiting for now - Since a major ruling went against Ferrari, how long until they start threatening to leave F1 and go to IndyCar? 

With McLaren running a relatively successful IndyCar programme, I wonder when other F1 teams will jump on board?  It really could solve some of the 'academy' problems teams have with F2 champions having nowhere to go with the F1 seats full.

Further, with F1 under a cost cap, it would be a great place for  personnel to learn the trade in a competitive environment and still be under contract with an F1 team (is there a rule that F1 teams can't run F2/F3 programmes?)

[Alianora La Canta]

Well to be fair, in this case, it was pretty clear cut. Leclerc missed the chicane, so would probably have been instructed to let Perez by anyway if it hadn't been the final corner.

It would except that, according to Article 5 of the Sporting Regulations, that last lap shouldn't have happened at all, and according to Article 57 of the Sporting Regulations, events happening after the race should have ended only count if they are banned under post-race regulations (such as an undue delay to returning to the pits).

There is a three-hour window rule. Nothing in the three-hour window rule allows for an extra "pretty please with a cherry on top" lap at the end. The three-hour window rule was derived from the Bianchi legal settlement, which required the (then four-hour) window to be absolute to avoid darkness. While the window was shortened (to allow starting an hour later if Liberty desired), the absolute nature of that window was never changed. (By the way, the settlement also required it to start from the original scheduled start time, not from whatever point the actual start occurs - something the FIA "forgot" in their regulations in a way that did not occur when writing the three-hour window rule).

Have you ever heard of anyone being penalised for going off-track and gaining an advantage on the cool-down lap? No? Well, there's a reason for that. The "off-track and gaining an advantage" rule only applies to actual in-race laps, not post-race ones. Even in-race laps that become post-race laps cannot, by the FIA's regulations, be judged as if it were in-race, except in the sense that it is mitigation for not following certain post-race regulations (for example, it's why nobody was penalised for about 90 seconds of unnecessary delay in returning to the pits - because the drivers were told to race on, they did so).

You will not be surprised to hear I have... ...other objections to the FIA's behaviour. Several more serious than this one. But this is perhaps the most symbolic.

With McLaren running a relatively successful IndyCar programme, I wonder when other F1 teams will jump on board?  It really could solve some of the 'academy' problems teams have with F2 champions having nowhere to go with the F1 seats full.

Wait until Ferrari finishes launching their new prototype Le Mans campaign next year (one of the reasons for which is to get employees racing without them being in F1). Then it might happen.