Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of “Rumour Round-Up” and as with the others, all the stories contained within this are to be taken with a grain of salt and haven’t been officially substantiated but are things that are being talked about in the world of F1 that may be interesting, could turn out to be true, or simply plain wrong. Without further delay, here is Rumour Roundup… Mercedes launching a double protest after the 2021 F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi was just one facet of the controversial end to the season. However, Mercedes decided not to appeal the rejection of their protests which did come as a surprise to many at the time. The BBC has now reported a rumour regarding why Mercedes took this route Link to poll: https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx32rdxcu6l7x6rUP_AyNkGcscGnMDEpGN 0:00 - Michael Masi To Be Sacked To Appease Mercedes - [Rumour Round-Up] 1:45 - Rapid Rumours I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World: Michael Masi To Be Sacked To Appease Mercedes Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff appeared on multiple interviews and stated that Lewis Hamilton is "disillusioned" with F1 following the events of the last couple of laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Lewis, meanwhile, has been silent since the post-race interview conducted by Jenson Button Wolff had later confirmed that their decision to drop the appeal was one that was taken with Hamilton’s approval As per the report by BBC Sport, there was allegedly an assurance made by the FIA that led to this decision Supposedly, a senior source told BBC Sport that Mercedes had dropped their appeal against the results of the race after agreeing on a quid pro quo with the FIA The quid pro quo deal allegedly means the end of Michael Masi’s tenure as the FIA race director Additionally, FIA head of single-seater technical matters Nikolas Tombazis would also step down from his position The FIA is currently undertaking an inquiry into the Abu Dhabi GP and these decisions will probably be made official after the inquiry is completed Rapid Rumours What Sky Sports' Craig Slater can report “today is that, in terms of Lewis Hamilton coming back to Formula 1 [will depend] on the FIA [being able] to deliver on the pledge they made before Christmas to investigate the happenings on that final lap” [Sky Sports] "To come up with some findings, they want to see something tangible from that investigation, and they want to see it sooner rather than later” "The longer this drags on, the longer we don't get a result to that investigation and some findings from the FIA in terms of how F1 is to conduct itself going forward, then the worse the Lewis Hamilton situation is. That's from a senior source close to that situation, which I think is significant” Red Bull has supposedly taken legal action against former chief engineer of aerodynamics, Dan Fallows, over his potential move to the Aston Martin Formula 1 team [Motorsport Week] FIA president Mohammed bin Sulayem “doesn’t think [Lewis Hamilton] will retire. They are rumours” [Marca] “Has he declared that he will not return? No. When you are a driver, you speak for yourself and not what others say about you” Ferrari are seemingly all set to renew Carlos Sainz’s contract by two more years [F1 Fansite] There has been some speculation that former F1 president Jean Todt could join Ferrari in an advisory role Todt responded to these rumours by stating that “in my life I have always wanted to learn something new – to move forward. So whatever I do, it will be something new” [Agence France-Presse] “I prefer to be extremely careful in my comments so as not to inflate rumours that may appear as a result of my words” “One word is enough to draw conclusions from, which in most cases does not correspond to reality” Alpine’s racing director Davide Brivio is supposedly looking to head back to MotoGP [Motorsport] Alpine’s CEO Laurent Rossi added that “on the MotoGP rumours, all I can say is that they are very positive regarding Davide. They all mention that the guy’s missed dearly there” “As regards the future, Davide, just like any other person in the team, will evolve in the organisation that I will decide, following the changes that I will decide. He is no different from the rest of the crew” Would sacking Michael Masi be the right decision?