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Lewis Hamilton’s fans have criticized the FIA and F1 for taking down radio conversations between Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and race director Michael Masi. A previously unpublished video that seemed to imply that the FIA acted on behalf of Red Bull’s instructions during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix resurfaced last week, leading to renewed uproar from the F1 community.
As of earlier this week, F1 has been on the offensive, issuing DMCA notices and taking down copies of the video on social media. Fans have duly called out F1 for its actions, further accusing the FIA of trying to silence the truth.
Meanwhile, Red Bull fans have pointed out that while Masi might have considered Wheatley's request, he also took into account requests made by Mercedes during the race, including when deploying the safety car restart just minutes before.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff got onto the radio immediately after Nicholas Latifi’s crash requestign Masi not to deploy the full safety car, claiming it will “mess up the race”.
Lewis Hamilton fans double-down on calls for Abu Dhabi results rollback
After the new footage surfaced, many fans felt that race director Michael Masi acted on behalf of Red Bull without regard for F1’s sporting regulations. Others felt that the footage was enough evidence for the FIA to roll back the controversial results and “reinstate” Lewis Hamilton as world champion.
Over the past few days, fans have doubled down on their attempts to get the motorsport governing body to rollback the results of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. They seem to believe the last lap safety car restart was illegal.
Their campaigning online led to the hashtag #voidlap58 trending on Twitter. It sought to pressurize the FIA into voiding the final lap of the title-deciding race, thereby handing the world championship to Lewis Hamilton. One particular fan went a step ahead and created a dedicated website for the cause, where they make their case for their demands.
The clip led to renewed criticism of the FIA’s handling of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with former F1 driver and long-time commentator Martin Brundle calling it “really uncomfortable” for the FIA.
