[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Masi flip flopped, he initially said “lapped cars would not be allowed to unlap themselves”, however just a little later he went back on his earlier decision and allowed only the 5 cars between Hamilton and Max to unlap themselves. It’s important to note that Alonso, Ricciardo and Stroll were not allowed to unlap themselves, why? Is racing to be allowed only between position 1 and 2? It was a farce in the name of allowing racing, if it wasn’t then all cars should have been allowed to unlap themselves.

https://thesportsrush.com/f1-news-it...-abu-dhabi-gp/

Please go through the article above, it’s also clearly mentioned in it.

Cheers

I did see this as well. And I don't disagree with that

However the way I see it as Mercedes stuck with track position and no options to exercise. Red Bull pitted but Mercedes couldn't after that cause there was a chance to finish behind safety car.

Had Merc pitted first Red Bull would have stayed out and hoped to finish behind safety car since they would get the track position.

Red Bull had nothing to lose so threw caution to the wind and gambled on 3rd pit stop to softs.

Merc were helpless and it would be beyond brave to call Lewis for a pitstop.

Masi intentionally only allowed 4 cars to unlap as the others were inconsequential in the race outcome as he mentioned in his statement to the stewards against Mercedes Protest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpBQhRS-OxU

I agree that the outcome was not what was it was leading towards but in the end the twist was due to the Latifi crash. Had Latifi not crashed this would be clean and ideal.

I only see one more possible outcome from the race other than Max winning and that was race finishing behind safety car. This is what all teams had agreed to avoid even if 1 lap was left.

In Baku the impact of Verstappen was huge requiring a red flag but yesterday the Latifi crash was a bump to the wall and hardly major. So the red flag scenario when a simple safety car was doable was bleak.

[aim120]

To those questioning mercedes appeal, Redbull had gone to courts for much less in 2014
. https://www.racecar-engineering.com/...reject-appeal/

[GreasyCarb55]

Well that was one hell of a race and it may be won under "controversial" circumstances to say the least but the madman has done it.

Je bent wereldkampioen Max Verstappen, enjoy it .

Mercedes AMG didn't pit Hamilton TWICE, you could even hear them telling Lewis to deliberately not come in for new tyres, even as Max came in for soft tyres around Lap 54 when KingLatifi decided to retire his Williams FW43B.

As for allowing the lapped cars to unlap themselves well let's just be honest, if the positions were swapped Toto would be screaming at Michael Masi to let the cars pass.

I'll be singing SUPER MAX MAX SUPER SUPER MAX everyday till F1 gets going again in March 2022.

MAX MAX MAX SUPER MAX MAX SUPER SUPER MAX

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by iamahunter

Eitherways! What a finale! After all these years and championships, Sir.Crybaby should really stop playing the victim card man!

Originally Posted by parrys

Every time he notices things are not going his way, he will immediately be on the radio trying to set a narrative. Then the blind fanboys will simply PASTE it everywhere.

Unless it is Kimi, almost all other drivers will have stress messages on radio whenever someone overtakes or don’t give way. Love/hatred for one team/driver and the related fanboy/hateboy comments are understandable, but I have to say that the post-race demeanor of Lewis was classy – chew up the disappointment, gracious in defeat, and congratulate the winner and be part of the podium celebrations. Those scenes, especially with the father-son duo in a corner was reminiscent of 2008, and he would very well know what it means for Max to have that first championship, especially when winning it in the most unexpected way (like 2008).

Originally Posted by iamahunter

I am of the opinion that races should be won on the track and not in the courtroom.

If reports are to believed Lewis have asked Toto Wolff to withdraw the protests. If it’s true, that’s the ideal way – not to be unfair to Max (and he is the deserving champion), and its best when the results are decided and dusted on track.

[deetjohn]

https://youtu.be/L4SWV9G-KJs

1. It was Albon who came on first on Max' radio after the flag. And that release of pure joy and emotions after such a tight season is going to be remembered for long!
2. Lewis said 'it was manipulated' on the radio after the pass but it was never broadcasted. Then he didn't say a word and sat in the car for a few minutes to collect his thoughts.
3. it's amazing how underrated Carlos is. All his team mates - Max, Lando & Charles are considered special, but the Spaniard is doing his job spectacularly under the radar. Can't wait for next season!

[Speedshift]

All the drama at the last lap was aptly described by Norris when he said that final lap decision was made 'for the TV'.

The ideal way would have been a red flag and a restart from the grid, that way all the fuss about safety car could have been avoided and everyone would have had a good few laps of racing.

Props to Hamilton for staying gracious all through it. Next year, with the new cars, would be interesting.

Finally, Liberty media has done great to bring new fans to F1 but the trend of curating races through race control instead of the track is exactly what Nascar started doing 20 years ago and look what it has done to the authenticity of the Motorsport. Its more drama and fakery than racing.

[volkman10]

Amul acknowledges the winner!

[FURY_44]

The silence from Lewis and Mercedes camp is deafening, really hard to digest what they must be going through, the deadline for appeal and hearing will be Thursday, before the Champions gala, hope we get an update soon.

[vinya_jag]

Originally Posted by motorworks

Lastly, why aren’t Mercedes remotely even celebrating their constructor’s championship? Sure, the driver’s championship carries a lot more aura, but come on, the team deserves a bit more positivity and they should celebrate, I don’t know why they always make it about the driver’s championship, both are equally important! Mercedes can continue to create campaigns about them being the world championship winners and sell road cars!

Constructors dosn't count so much. No one remembers it as much as the Victor. It is more like a team winning the Cricket world cup, and the opposition team has a Man of the Series in them.

If they cared for the constructors so much, why would they let Hamilton overtake Bottas so many times.

Anyway here is the list of the constructors champions so far:


Looking at this, I wonder if Mercedes is able to really make use of this stat while selling cars worldwide. I know, Ferrari had the edge, when they sold more road cars back then, when they were winning.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by vinya_jag

Constructors dosn't count so much. No one remembers it as much as the Victor.

Plus looking at the list over the past 20 years it hardly happens that the team winning the Driver's doesn't win the Constructor's as well. If a car is good enough to win the Driver's title, the second teammate just needs to do the minimal (of course by F1 standards) to secure places to wrap up the Constructor's.

From a media/spectator point of view - it's always easier to sell a person, a personality, a story about an individual rather than a corporation or a constructor or even a team. People connect with a Hamilton, a Max, a Senna and their story and rivalries more than a Mercedes or a Red Bull.

(Notable exception - Ferrari! I think they are one team in F1 that will always be bigger than any of their drivers. But I might be biased there being a tifosi! )

But I'm sure teams do value the Constructor's title as well.

[shabih]

Originally Posted by Worldchamp 2019

I had just said to my wife "oh well..same old..same old" and was about to switch the TV off when suddenly Latifi crashed. Instantly knew that the safety car would have to be brought out. The change in Masi's decision was a weird one but I feel the right one.

Oh my God, you know this is exactly what happened at my place. Hey in the end it was a fun end regardless of the outcome!

[ajmat]

Ideally, they should have red flagged the race. Allow all cars in for tyres etc. Then an evens stevens pure wheel to wheel race!

[rohitoasis]

I am not sure how many of you follow "Chain bear" channel in youtube. I have found the videos on his channel a welcome relief from the heated debates in the internet. Let me share this here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGXaKJgLmnM

This video has reviewed all possible options we are now discussing in hindsight and explained why each was a good/bad idea. You may head over to his channel to have more videos on Formula 1.

I feel for Masi. He took over from Charlie who was supremely good at what he did. Charlie had a long stint and has had enough time to make mistakes and learn from it. For us to get someone as good as Charlie at the helm might be very difficult. With this years controversies i feel it will be hard to find a replacement either. Poor Michael now has a wikipedia page only advertising his worst achievements.

[FURY_44]

Haha found this to be "simply lovely" among all. TBH social media is filled with sympathy for Lewis overpowering Verstappens title news, only the F1 official handles are celebrating the new champion, like nothing happened.

[navpreet318]

Loved the outcome! Was rooting for Max! I'm with Jeremy Clarkson in my opinion of Hamilton!
Plus if anybody observes the previous few months, there has been a particularly weird behaviour towards the Red Bull Car and Max. All hell is raised when an error is by Max and everyone goes shush shush when it is Hamilton. Details are there for everyone to see.

I wish we have racing like when it was the Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher times! 3 Pitstop strategies with fuel. If one encountered traffic they could go for an early pitstop and then have superior pace in the clean air. So much that they could cover the deficit of pitting early!
Fuel weight and tires which were marked very conspicuously used to make or break strategies. Super fun racing and drama! Everything played a part!

I haven't been following F1 for the past few years because of it becoming very obvious but this year was wonderful!
Super win by Max! Hope to see many many more racing championships from him in the coming years!

Oh and loved the drama by Toto as well. With all the broken Bose headphones and all!