Abstract: We have studied the production and decay of the f(1) (1285) into pi a(0)(980) and K* (K) over bar as a function of the mass of the resonance and find a shoulder around 1400 MeV, tied to a triangle singularity, for the pi a(0)(980) mode, and a peak around 1420 MeV with about 60 MeV width for the K* (K) over bar mode. Both of these features agree with the experimental information on which the f(1)(1420) resonance is based. In addition, we find that if the f(1)(1420) is a genuine resonance, coupling mostly to K* (K) over bar as seen experimentally, one finds unavoidably about a 20% fraction for pi a(0)(980) decay of this resonance, in drastic contradiction with all experiments. Altogether, we conclude that the f(1)(1420) is not a genuine resonance, but the manifestation of the pi a(0)(980) and K* (K) over bar decay modes of the f(1)(1285) at higher energies than the nominal one.