F1 Season 2021

[Dubai Blue]

As someone who doesnt really follow F1 I found myself waking up at 5am with my head still trying to understand what happened yesterday.
I still dont understand how a sport can remove the 4 cars Hamilton had just passed so his rival could have a clear run on new tyres.
I am still angry, I watch sport hoping to see a fair competition. I struggle with football and think that bent towards the American owned clubs.
But what I saw last night left me speechless, I witnessed clear and utter cheating. RB told the RC to remove the lapped cars and he did. It seems so many F1 rules were ignored by RC the SC should have done another lap, all lapped cars should have been unlapped.

You cant take F1 seriously from now on I dont think it will help F1 with new fans etc. Might have been what the sponsors wanted but long term it might have done more harm

Agreed. Think they've shot themselves in the foot with this one.

 

[Saddleworth2]

What Masi did was make a decision to NOT move the lapped cars, but then realized that even if he could get ONE LAP IN (which Horner implored him to do on the radio for the world to hear!), with the traffic ahead (even blue flagged traffic), Lewis would be off and away after the Safety Car!

Then, he realized if he did allow the lapped cars through, we were not going to be able to get one lap done. Quandary!

So, in his complete lack of sporting wisdom, he came up with a completely new, NETFLIX-ready, solution…just allow the cars BETWEEN them through before they get around to the finish line and pull the safety car!

In effect, he said, “Max either can’t catch Lewis if we race, or has no chance if we don’t race, so let me remove ‘the barrier’ to a race lap by removing the cars involved. Not only will this distill the entire year of hundreds of millions of dollars of hard fought racing down to a 1 lap sprint, it’ll effectively put a slower car with faster tires a fraction of a second behind a faster car with slower tires! That sounds like ‘car racing’ to me!”

The result?

The driver who not only nullified poll position before the first turn, was ahead for the entire race, but also managed his tires for a 1 stop (versus 3 stop!!!) strategy was PENALIZED by allowing the time and track positions lost by his arch rival during those tire changes to be removed from consideration. Thus, the driver who was tied for the Championship before the race, led the entire way in the “Winner Takes All” Grand Finale had the WORLD CHAMPION TITLE taken from him by the Race Director, who made up a solution to his “problem” for the last lap.

If it doesn’t get overturned (unlikely), this title will always have an asterisk besides it for me. And, after giving Max a win earlier in the season, it is simply compounding the fix.

And, as if on cue, Horner suddenly becomes magnanimous and Verstappen turns philosophical!

What an absolute joke Masi has made of this entire season with some of his decisions, especially his final decisive one!

If I were Mercedes, I would go as far as I could with the appeals process…and then drop out of F1 next year, leaving a big gaping hole in the so-called competition!

Formula E is the future.

cant argue with a single word. Haven't felt as cheated at a sporting event since CL quarters against Spuds. In fact in terms of being bent, yesterday was 100 times worse. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it.

 

[The Future’s Blue!]

It seems people here think this was all by design to allow Max to win. Of course Max being on the fresher tyres in a one lap shoot out was always going to get a fair shot of passing him. Im not saying I think the decision to let them race / allow some backmarkers to pass was right.

However, I can’t help but look at one moment in the race, and it’s a gamble we see teams take week in week out down the field to get a ‘cheap stop’. Mercedes made the call to maintain track position instead of pitting Lewis under the virtual safety car. (Toto on the radio to Masi begging him not to deploy the full safety car). Obviously Red Bull then react, they have to, they are then racing the variables. Both teams gambled and unfortunately for Lewis that initial team decision has put him on the back foot with tyre choice for what happens later. That initial decision keeps him on those worn tyres for the duration. He himself was on the radio multiple times questioning it, even calling it a risk and a gamble.

The sport comes down to split decisions and on a high speed street circuit there was always the possibility of a full safety car.

It’s a farce how the end of the race unfolded, but I do think Lewis is going to come back stronger than ever next season. The man is a warrior.

The ‘sport’, as you call it, was basically erased from history due to the FIA choosing to make rules up on the fly which ensured a different outcome.

As many have said, it is a manufactured result that not only leaves a bad taste, the credibility of the entire sport has been tarnished.

 

[blue cigar]

I hope it goes to cas and gets overturned, credibility is everything in sport and they have lost it unfortunately.

 

[svennis pennis]

The ‘sport’, as you call it, was basically erased from history due to the FIA choosing to make rules up on the fly which ensured a different outcome.

As many have said, it is a manufactured result that not only leaves a bad taste, the credibility of the entire sport has been tarnished.

i think the variable I was trying to ask was, and extremely hypothetical of course; If Mercedes had taken the first pit stop opportunity, the scenario would have been reversed, so do people think Masi would have still released the lapped cars for a single lap race? I think he would.

 

[i8rags]

Rules are rules, unless we decide otherwise.
we can change rules as we see fit.
Therefore although we didn’t follow rules we did follow allowing rules to be changed.

 

[NI Blue]

i think the variable I was trying to ask was, and extremely hypothetical of course; If Mercedes had taken the first pit stop opportunity, the scenario would have been reversed, so do people think Masi would have still released the lapped cars for a single lap race? I think he would.

I think he would too as it meant the race just didn't finish behind a safety car. He wanted drama and he got it.

 

[fulabeer]

It seems people here think this was all by design to allow Max to win. Of course Max being on the fresher tyres in a one lap shoot out was always going to get a fair shot of passing him. Im not saying I think the decision to let them race / allow some backmarkers to pass was right.

However, I can’t help but look at one moment in the race, and it’s a gamble we see teams take week in week out down the field to get a ‘cheap stop’. Mercedes made the call to maintain track position instead of pitting Lewis under the virtual safety car. (Toto on the radio to Masi begging him not to deploy the full safety car). Obviously Red Bull then react, they have to, they are then racing the variables. Both teams gambled and unfortunately for Lewis that initial team decision has put him on the back foot with tyre choice for what happens later. That initial decision keeps him on those worn tyres for the duration. He himself was on the radio multiple times questioning it, even calling it a risk and a gamble.

The sport comes down to split decisions and on a high speed street circuit there was always the possibility of a full safety car.

It’s a farce how the end of the race unfolded, but I do think Lewis is going to come back stronger than ever next season. The man is a warrior.

You seem to forget Max was behind Lewis. He could pit after Lewis had passed the pit lane.
Therefore, at no point could Lewis pit until at least one lap later.

It would have been utter madness to risk pitting under VSC.
Same goes for SC, unless there was many laps remaining.

There was also another problem in passing Perez (again). As shown, he knew Lewis couldn't risk a collision. So not only did he defend without fear, he slowed right down in parts of the track were it was impossible to pass. Max needed the help of another driver. (including in qualifying)
So Lewis was actually racing two drivers and had to make decisions based on that.
Mercedes made the right calls in the circumstances.

Max = Louis Suarez - Dirty/scrappy and will cheat/bite to win
Hamilton = Messi - Simply the better driver and the genuine GOAT

Masi = Sepp Blatter - Thinks he is above the law/rules if it means more money

 

[pudge]

I don't follow Formula 1 outside of seeing who wins each race so I don't really understand the ins and outs of what happened yesterday but from all the headlines throughout the year is it fair to say both drivers "got away" with different things throughout the season?

I genuinely don't know

 

[Sir peace frog]

But people will watch it, the same way everyone deems football is corrupt and still watch it religiously.

If anything it could bring new fans in like me. Loved the drama today. I like how everyone is forgetting Hamilton still had a lead, in his own hands and lost it.

and maybe that's what they want,people like you who haven't got a clue, as for hamilton having it in his own hands, your a wum