F1 2021 Season

Merit? Max was not making the calls, stewards/FIA did. He made most of the situation which opened up for him, which in this case was a one lap dash and he made it work.

Besides, I'm obviously talking about the season as a whole. That's why I quoted a stat of 18 top 2 finishes. Max deserves this, ending wasn't ideal, but that doesn't mean he didn't drive his ass off all year to get to this point. Folks are right to bring up Hamiltons' misfortune today, but at the same time, Verstappen had his in Baku, Silverstone and Hungary.

Max drove brilliantly this year, but even with 18 top 2 finishes, not including the last race, Max and Lewis were tied in points going into this weekend. So Lewis drove well also and equally to Max, to make the final race such a spectacle for what it meant.

Lewis totally dominated today, nobody can dispute that. But as Horner said with about 10 laps to go, RB needed a miracle that was the crash AND Masi changing the racing rules for the sake of entertainment and NOT racing integrity/merit.
 
Someone talk me through this

He crashed, damaged his wing, lost a minute in the gravel trap.

Then through amazing fortune Bottas and Russell crashed and the race was red flagged. Lewis got to un-lap himself while off track and get a full repair on his wing damage. And ended up finishing second. So because of the dodgy rules he finished second despite driving 1 lap less than the cars behind him.
 
The race director will take the bullet for this and he will be the fall guy but the result won’t be changed

What a joke of a sport
 
Absolute novice but I've kept watch due to the hype around this season. Can anyone explain in simplistic terms what the controversy is regarding the race.
There are plenty of experts on here but I think the gist is that a group of cars should have been allowed to change track position but they decided to only let the ones between Max and Lewis do it.

The suggestion is if they'd let all cars do so, they would have run out of laps and the title decided behind a safety car.

The allegation is they bent (broke) the rules to clear a route for Max and give him a final shot at Lewis.... on new tyres
 
There was a crash with 5 or 6 laps to go. The race director brought out a safety car to slow everyone down while the crash is cleared. The crash was cleared with about one lap to go. The problem is that there was several lapped cars, including about 5 lapped cars physically between Max and Lewis that couldn't unlap themselves because of the safety car. There was confusion as to whether the lapped cars could unlap themselves (allowing Max to go right behind Lewis) or not (giving Lewis a 5 car barrier). In the end, they decided to let the 5 cars between Max and Lewis unlap themselves but not the others.

Lewis' team and fans think this is robbery because it helped Max and that all of the lapped cars or none of them should have been let through.

Red Bull and Max fans argue that if all of the cars were made to unlap themselves, it would have taken too long and the whole thing would have been decided by a safety car.
Sorry struggling to understand from googling, what does unlapping mean with regards to the 5 cars between Lewis and Max, they're allowed to go past the safety car before everyone else while Lewis, Max and everyone else wait behind the safety car?
 
The race director will take the bullet for this and he will be the fall guy but the result won’t be changed

What a joke of a sport

What do you want to happen? That RB just willingly go and give the title to Ham and Mercedes? They did nothing wrong. Why should they be punished?
 
But it wasn’t a racing lap. It was a sitting duck lap
I wonder if Mercedes has a realistic strategy argument to be made here. Surely they didn't expect it the situation to unfold the way it did, otherwise they would have pitted Lewis.
 
What do you want to happen? That RB just willingly go and give the title to Ham and Mercedes? They did nothing wrong. Why should they be punished?
He’s not saying they should be punished.
More that the rules should be consistently and correctly applied.
 
Yup...if nobody was unlapped Lewis won
If everybody unlapped the race was over and Lewis won

Massive twist of protocol to find away to take it away from the only black driver who had the balls to wear a rainbow helmet in the middle east ...
Come on mate...
 
Yup...if nobody was unlapped Lewis won
If everybody unlapped the race was over and Lewis won

Massive twist of protocol to find away to take it away from the only black driver who had the balls to wear a rainbow helmet in the middle east ...

You’re a joke.
 
He’s not saying they should be punished.
More that the rules should be consistently and correctly applied.
I totally agree. Their indecision and inconsistency has cost both teams potential race wins or more points. Hell, not just the top 2, but everyone. It’s a joke that a sport which is so rich has the governing body and stewards which rely more on vibes than anything.
 
Massive twist of protocol to find away to take it away from the only black driver who had the balls to wear a rainbow helmet in the middle east ...

Threads a bit of fun and games but this is such a hideous take. Sort yourself out.
 
Yup...if nobody was unlapped Lewis won
If everybody unlapped the race was over and Lewis won

Massive twist of protocol to find away to take it away from the only black driver who had the balls to wear a rainbow helmet in the middle east ...
Jesus christ
 
I wonder if Mercedes has a realistic strategy argument to be made here. Surely they didn't expect it the situation to unfold the way it did, otherwise they would have pitted Lewis.
I think if the accident and safety car are 10 laps from the end, then Merc likely make the call to pit Hamilton, lose track position and take Softs to challenge Verstappen who would be on fresher Hards than Hamilton but still at a disadvantage. Challenge for Hamilton then is that Verstappen would be super aggressive in defense due to his advantage if they both DNF, which is the trump card he's held since after Mexico.
 
Penny for Latifi’s thoughts?
Poor guy won’t sleep well tonight.
Bloody useless! Ruined everything. So Hamilton was 11 seconds in front with 5 cars between them and 7 laps to go, and FIA decides to put them side to side on the last lap with Verstappen on new tyres and Hamilton on tires that have done 40 laps.
 
For me this shows that the rules need to change regarding safety cars. Ending a race under safety cars shouldn't be allowed. I think the American system of extending the race should be considered for F1.
 
Massive twist of protocol to find away to take it away from the only black driver who had the balls to wear a rainbow helmet in the middle east ...

Now this is a meltdown among meltdowns. Top, top effort. :drool:
 
The way they like creating this WWE/Netflix drama they'll probably arrange a 1 on 1 drag race between Max and Hamilton to settle it once and for all
 
Which part specifically is unfair if you look at the rules though? This is a genuine noob question. Having lapped cars pass the sc is common practice though usually it's all cars and not just a few?
 
Yup...if nobody was unlapped Lewis won
If everybody unlapped the race was over and Lewis won

Massive twist of protocol to find away to take it away from the only black driver who had the balls to wear a rainbow helmet in the middle east ...
That explains why they never considered me for an F1 driver as well, I’m brown and obviously the FIA want white domination. Or it could be that I am not good enough for F1. Probably the former though.
 
What do you want to happen? That RB just willingly go and give the title to Ham and Mercedes? They did nothing wrong. Why should they be punished?

Bit of an over reaction here from you.

That post wasn't saying anything about Redbull, and it is a joke of a sport when you have team managers in the official's ears and can change rules on the fly.
 
Yup...if nobody was unlapped Lewis won
If everybody unlapped the race was over and Lewis won

Massive twist of protocol to find away to take it away from the only black driver who had the balls to wear a rainbow helmet in the middle east ...

Yeah British people are historically so marginalized and the media does NOTHING. It's disgusting.

Bad week for Hamilton anyway, lost this and Carlisle have put Stevenage into the relegation zone in a serious six point game.
 
There are plenty of experts on here but I think the gist is that a group of cars should have been allowed to change track position but they decided to only let the ones between Max and Lewis do it.

The suggestion is if they'd let all cars do so, they would have run out of laps and the title decided behind a safety car.

The allegation is they bent (broke) the rules to clear a route for Max and give him a final shot at Lewis.... on new tyres

Wow what a calamity, so the shortfalls are behind the FIA. Sounds like the equivalent of FIFA officials, seems a lack of effort to follow the sports legislation carry across most sports today.

Think it's a bad rep for the F1, especially attracting so many casuals such as myself. To have the climax of the championship decided on a technicality rather than the determination of race strategy is not good. A shame.