F1 2021
 

Looking for a positive here but al least we won't be subjected to more whining from Horner et al

How much did Latifi receive from Red Bull?

He certainly won't be on Merc's, or Lewis's, Xmas card list after that - bloody typical that it's a Merc customer team that manage to interfere in the championship result :Confused:

I was surprised by the stewards not telling Lewis to give the place back to Max on lap 1 (Lewis left the door wide open, so although Max's move was a total divebomb that needed Lewis's cooperation to not cause a crash, Max did for once manage to stay within the painted lines whilst completing the move, unlike Brazil!)

Merc were completely stuffed whatever they did when the SC came out - if they pit Lewis, Max gets track position, then if what you'd expect to happen from race control had happened, they'd have gifted Max the win.

It's difficult to take this sport seriously when you see it being run like this.

Apparently the stewards have okayed the outcome (how else could they do it? Strip a title? Not likely) so I suspect there will be further arguments to come regarding rule books and interpretation therein.

It was a terrible way to end the season. :mad:

Safety Cars happen and almost always end up giving an "unfair" advantage to someone. In this case both the VSC and full SC each gave a significant advantage to the second-place (at the time) car which was Verstappen. After that it was very likely he would win.
There will no doubt be arguments about that, but it's been the same all season - and longer. Ripe for review?
Another area that will probably be looked at before next year is what work can be done during a "Red Flag" break in track action.

The decision to unlap the cars that Hamilton had already passed but Verstappen hadn't and "let them race" for just one lap at the very end seems more perverse; not sure that's consistent with previous practice but it's been upheld (for now anyway) despite its inevitable outcome.

The lap 1 incident, as I see it, Verstappen only stayed on track by coming to almost a complete stop and turning sharply at low speed. So he lost a lot of time due to his "lunge/dive" or whatever you call it.
Hamilton also lost time due to being forced off track and going across the runoff area, he almost certainly didn't get through the corner faster than "normal".
So both drivers had a sub-optimal corner and lost time, but Verstappen lost more. He was never going to get round the corner normally anyway, so the "no action" decision seems sensible, given it was him that created the situation.
The net result was that they were still in the same order, both lost time, cars behind were closer and the driver who created the situation was relatively slightly worse off.

Especially as, something I hadn't realised at the time, ONLY the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen were "released". Those further back were still there. :Confused: I don't recall that ever happening before.
I do remember situations where the "back markers" were not yet catching up with the "pack" before the safety car came in, but not a situation where only those between the front 2 cars were moved out of the way.

Nobody seems to have mentioned that the lapped car behind MV, Ricciardo, separating him from Sainz chasing in 3rd, was not asked to unlap himself, so MV also had no worries about being attacked from behind.

Something stinks :-(

Earlier this year I cancelled my Sky F1 channel.
Now I have given up, no more F1 for me.
I'll make do with the Golden Flash on the M6!

Two days later and I’m still incensed by how that ended.

After nearly 30 years following the sport I think I’m done with F1. I can’t explain it, but the actions from Sunday have extinguished the flame for me. Maybe I will feel differently when the new season begins? :Confused:

Right now, I would love for Hamilton to retire and walk away from the sport. I have a feeling this may have killed his love for the sport that he has given so much to.

Yep, I'm done with it. I was looking forward to seeing the new cars next year but the FIA making up the rules as they go along, the Discovery-esque BS from the team bosses, and the FIA's total disregard for their own equality message was enough that I've just given up.

I cancelled my Sky subscription and TV licence yesterday since F1 was the only thing I used either for. The only way I can register my frustration with the FIA is to take my money away so I made it very clear to Sky that's why I was cancelling.

Its such a shame they have ruined the sport when Liberty appeared to be on the right track to rescuing it. Ross Brawn's fixation on the stupid sprint race hasn't helped. Motorsport is dying along with the combustion engine, since electric racing is so awful. It would have been nice to see F1 live its last few years with some well balanced cars and a mixed up grid.

Would not blame Mercedes if they quit either, including engine supplies

FIA probe, too little, too late? https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fi...versy/6885615/

The nerve of the FIA blaming of the F1 teams and fans for a 'misunderstanding'. They are behaving like an abuser and blaming the victim.
No investigation is needed. We know what went wrong, Massi did not follow the rules.

So Mercedes have decided to not appeal and "separately" Susie Wolff boss of the Venturi Formula E team (and wife of Toto as we know), criticised the FIA in a strongly worded statement of her own including saying: Hmmmmmm…..

Well that was a race that will never be forgotten, but for all the wrong reasons. F1 wanted to make the race into some sort of soap opera and in their constant efforts to create a show, they forgot there are rules that need to be adhered to.

I was very fortunate to be there for the Abu Dhabi GP, my first ever GP I've been to. The atmosphere was electric. I'll try adding some pics when I can

Wanted to confirm that on the F1 site before commenting, now that the season has 'finally' finished!

I didn't watch the race live, but as soon as the podium ceremony was finished, I headed over to the F1 site to see what the 'real' result was. No surprises then about the appeals that had been lodged, but still waited to find out if the championship was going to be decided two months down the line in a court.

The FIA seriously have to get their act together to run the 'epitome of motor racing'. I've always criticised track limits on the entire circuit (keep within the white lines!) and the last couple of years where they apply track limits to certain corners at the drop of a hat between sessions, quali and the race.

Martin Brundle also made a comment recently about the lapped cars debacle and said that they should just drop to the back of the field instead of passing the pace car and then having to catch up to the back before bringing in the pace car. I suppose it has probably something to do with them completing the extra lap so they will have used the same amount of fuel and aren't at an advantage.

The 'reason' for lapped cars having to overtake and unlap themselves is to do with the transponders which 'mess up' if there were to drop back down the field ie they will show them on the incorrect lap. It's amazing that with all the technology they have, they cannot press a button and put the drivers back on the same lap as the leaders.

No surprise, really...
 

To me, this just strikes me as yet another sporting debacle (like cricket, football, etc...) where amateurish management and neanderthal governance is colliding with serious money-driven business interests.

Conflict and collision is inevitable, and real fans are incidental when this happens.

some quite strong rumours that both Toto and Lewis will not be back :-(

I've seen several videos speculating about Lewis quitting the sport and even those hinting that Toto and maybe Mercedes would walk away. However, I would put it down to a combination of anger at how the season finale ended and a concealed possible threat to the FIA to sort themselves out, or else.

Lewis is a 7 times world champion. He knows the ups and down of the sport, and he still has that fire in him to achieve more. What better for him than to surpass Michael Schumacher's total. Would he really be prepared to walk away from all that because of the outcome of one race?

Likewise for Toto and Mercedes. If Lewis walks away, they need another top driver to take his spot, along with Russell, and the season starts again in three months. If Toto walks, Mercedes need a new team principal. I suppose Mercedes could decide to walk away and take their engines with them (as you mentioned earlier), which would really screw up F1. That's why I think it's all posturing towards the FIA (and maybe Liberty Media) - Lewis walks, Toto walks, Mercedes walk. You're now faced with a grid of 18 cars, 6 of which don't have engines, and three months to sort it all out before the flag drops, and you can't just drop in a Ferrari or Honda/Red Bull engine in it's place.

have a look back at the year when hawthorn won the championship instead of moss when moss went to the stewards and explained to them that hawthorn shouldn't be black flagged

It was still a sport in those days.
American money hadn't become involved.
I'm just showing my age.

It's State sponsorship from countries with a minimal or non-existent grasp on democracy and human rights that are a huge factor. :tuttut:
I don't know when that became significant but Bernie Ecclestone's name springs to mind.....

I vaguely remembering hearing about this on TV, not at the time :D so thought I'd Google it, and came across this article. A fascinating read and as Ray said 'It was still a sport in those days':

https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id...d-championship

Also came across this article written prior to the last race of 2016. You can ignore the first four paragraphs as they are the antithesis of the real story further down:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/bl...rg-formula-one