[adwaith]

Originally Posted by tharian

Toto Wolf- " This is not right"
Michael Masi- "Toto..this is called racing. Toto..we went car racing".

Enough said.

Questionable considering only a few cars overtook the SC to reset postions.

[JoshMachine]

What a super finale lap! And Max grabbed it.

Almost played out like the super final over of the cricket World Cup’19, didn’t it!

Scores tied going into the final over /lap, man - it couldn’t have got more exciting than this, ever!

[Vitruvius]

Well, 'it is what it is'!!

Full credit to the Red Bull team for the string of right decisions that put them in the position to challenge a faster car tonight.

All the stars did fall in the right place for them: the strategy with their pit stops, the contribution by Perez no less, and the 'Hand of God' that spun Latifi around!!

What an F1 season after so many years, and with Russel in the second Mercedes next year, it is going to be a cracker!!!

[koyomi_araragi]

Oh god, what a roller coaster. As a Max fan I must say I was 100% sure Lewis won it when he got the race start, but then what happened were a series of miracles (and the last one, where do I start!).

First was Checo's INSANE defense, I have no words to say because I am dumbfounded about it. What he pulled off was godly driving, and to put so much pressure and even take a position back on that rocket of a car today, absolute respect to him.

Next were Redbull sneaking in free tyre stops with the safety cars - this is where I'll talk about the biggest controversy in F1 recently! By changing the tyres twice, and at the last stop to softs, Redbull put themselves in a position to EXPLOIT A MIRACLE. This is important, as while Lewis fans will talk about how Redbull robbed them, as a Max fan, it was FIA & Massi who should be accountable to their decisions.

Massi's call was shocking, even to me, and I have no clue about the technicalities and what's going to happen, but what it did do is give Max the opportunity to win the race, and he did it wonderfully. When he overtook lewis with that move, Lewis couldn't fight back and even on the straights with that rocket of a car, he still struggled. This was because Merc's strategy which Lewis had contentions with too, which is sad.

What a season and what a finale, this season will be remembered for a long time! Now on to next year, and I hope FIA fixes the mess that race regulations and rules have become. Next years' championship fight has a tall order to follow!

[PJ1987]

Oh My God!! What just happened. Redbull needed a miracle and the Racing Gods just gave them exactly that. Unbelievable season finale. This is more thrilling than any Hollywood blockbusters. Max Verstappen, you deserve it. Well done.

[mp417]

What a nail biting finish. The entire race had so many ups and downs. I'm still shaking and shivering.

I'm devastated to see the outcome. Surly the WDC was snatched away by the stewards from the best driver on the track. Lewis was clearly miles ahead in terms of the race pace.
Perez defending was awesome but IMO dangerous. Bottas was nowhere to help his team Mate

Red bull had nothing to lose after seeing Lewis pace and they rolled the dice multiple times and got rewarded big time.

I'm sure Mercedes will appeal (and they should) the decision which clearly seems half thought through and taken in rush.

It was a stupid end to the season.

Race directors reply to Toto was just comic.

[nitkel]

F1 transitioned into pure "entertainment" from a "sport" today! This could potentially make Mercedes pull out from F1 though! Sorry but just not done from a race perspective. (I'm an Alonso fan BTW).

[Maky]

I have never choked up and felt so crap in a sporting event... not in cricket we all grew up with never

no no no

I do not care about "sportsmanship" at this point I sincerely hope Mercedes appeal the decision, although I can predict the out come of it....

Extremely extremely unhappy right now.

[ChiragM]

FIA has been inconsistent the entire year. There have been many times they unfairly ruled against Red Bull and sometimes unfairly against Mercedes.

Happy for Honda to bow out with a Drivers championship after the terrible days with McLaren.

[BlueFreedom]

What a race what a race !!! even the best of the scriptwriters in the industry couldn't have provided such a riveting race

First things first
Congratulations Max !!! you are an extraordinary talent kudos to you to keep the WDC in contention till the last race considering the pace advantage Merc had

Lewis awesome driver and a rare talent, I'm pretty confident you will win your 8th championship breaking the heart of many of the MSC fans

and finally to the Iceman, what a character, you are once in a lifetime personality, I will always miss you Kimi, was listening to his podcast in Beyond the grid, "I will not change anything even if it means more wins and more championships, I did things on my own terms", I wish many of us can say that take a bow Kimi you will be missed, although you do not care any less about us mortal fans, I'm all choked up typing this for the greatest non nonsense character ever to embrace motorsport

And to address the elephant in the room Michael Masi, he should do the honorable thing and quit his post if he is not doing it he should be fired incompetent to the core.

[jpcoolguy]

Frankly, race control should have allowed the lapped cars to unlap themselves a lap earlier, still don't understand why did it took them long to decide on that, could have avoided unnecessary controversy.

[Mohan Mathew A]

What a race but race control really messed it up and Massi should be fired. I don't think he is able to think on his feet and seems to be making too many questionable decisions and flip flops.
Mercedes strategy was too defensive today. They just didn't take the initiative. They clearly should have changed tires during VSC. I know it is a tough call but I feel, that's where they lost it.

[BlueFreedom]

Originally Posted by Maky

I have never choked up and felt so crap in a sporting event... not in cricket we all grew up with never

no no no

I do not care about "sportsmanship" at this point I sincerely hope Mercedes appeal the decision, although I can predict the out come of it....

Extremely extremely unhappy right now.

allowing only 5 cars between Ham and Max to get unlapped and then allowing racing is beyond me, like I have posted earlier Michael Masi is incompetent to the core.
Absolutely gutted for a farce of the last lap handicapping Lewis with the used hards vs a brand new softs for Max, I will not be surprised if this is even deliberate from Masi.

[Hayek]

Fantastic race - Max needed some luck (for a change) to beat Hamilton and he got it at last. I think the stewards made the absolute right decision here - Hamilton had track position and you wanted a straight fight to the end between Max and him - which is what we got.

Red Bull gambled because they had nothing to lose and won - Mercedes played it safe to retain track position and seemed to be playing for an end behind the safety car, else they should have been the ones bringing Lewis in given he had worn tyres. They lost the race for Lewis. Feel a bit bad for him - he did everything right in the last 4 races - but in the end, Max beat him on the track in the last lap of the season.

[anb]

Originally Posted by tharian

Toto Wolf- " This is not right"
Michael Masi- "Toto..this is called racing. Toto..we went car racing".

Enough said.

This is a sport. F1 bosses decided they wanted a one lap race-off between the two title contenders to see who won, rather than stick to the actual rules. An absolute scandal. What will happen if umpires want to conduct a Super over (Racing in last lap) in a world cup final in Cricket by calling a wicket a no ball?

Will Redbull stick with their opinion?
Red Bull: FIA should not change racing rules stance for F1 finale
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/r...inale/6873891/