[Hayek]

Well I hope Toto and the Mercedes senior management wake up this morning and realise that by going the CAS after having lost on the track, they are only proving themselves to be sore losers and hurting the image of Mercedes Benz.

You can debate the decision Masi / the stewards took on letting the race resume. I think it was the right one. You don’t want a title decided behind a Safety Car, and it is not that Max was given first place - he had to win it on track. Perez kept Lewis behind him for over a lap on worn softs and a slower car - Lewis had the opportunity to keep Max behind. Others can disagree.

I disagreed with several decisions this year - I felt the penalty Lewis got for driving Max off the track in Silverstone (?) was too mild, I felt Max should not have been asked to give the place back in Jeddah, and if he had been asked to do that, Lewis clearly should have been asked to give the place back after the first lap incident last night. Most decisions over the last several years have gone in favour of Mercedes. If people start taking things to CAS, you will never have a result.

Lewis lost - Max won. Lewis fans and Toto fans (are there any?) had better accept that. Hope we have a similar cracker of a season next year.

[vb-san]

Over the full course of the season, Max is indeed the deserving winner and the way Checo held up Lewis was pretty brilliant for Red Bull as a team. But that last lap was indeed a street circus show by Masi. I fully agree with Horner's comment after last week's race - F1 missed Charlie Whiting.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by pavanmadhini

Max just got plain lucky. And stole a rightly deserved 8th world championship from one of the greatest athletes on the planet right now.

Strategy engineers have a job for this very reason, so that races are not won on luck. Lewis wasn't confident on finishing the race on the old hards, neither were Mercedes. So why keep him out on the VSC when there was half a race to go?

Stewards drama aside, Lewis was a passenger with 44 lap hards against 4 lap super softs on a car that's matching him for pace on the final lap turn 1.

[anb]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Strategy engineers have a job for this very reason, so that races are not won on luck. Lewis wasn't confident on finishing the race on the old hards, neither were Mercedes. So why keep him out on the VSC when there was half a race to go?

Stewards drama aside, Lewis was a passenger with 44 lap hards against 4 lap super softs on a car that's matching him for pace on the final lap turn 1.

Teams decide optimum strategy based on rules and regulations of FIA. If race director can override the rules and regulations of FIA at last minute, there is no point with any strategy. Anybody who watched the 58 laps of yesterday's race will have no doubt that it's Lewis Hamilton who deserved to win the race.

[RMN]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

All the Lewis fans are so bothered and unhappy. Well I get the reason for all this disappointment, but then, if he really is the better driver and the epitome of motor racing, then let him just get that 8th Championship next year.

As for me, I am happy that the boring monotony has been broken successfully, well at least the continuous streak has been broken. Congratulations to Redbull and Max !

Absolutely no one else on the grid had anything for Lewis, or even Mercedes.

We all wanted the monotony to end, so then we might well have simply disqualified LH before the race began with no explanation. Would have saved Mercedes some money probably and a lot of peoples time


As a racing fan, this is not how we want to see the monotony to end. We want to see it end like Toprak gping toe to toe and winning the championship cleanly off Johnny Rea.

Been trying to like F1 after a long time but the combination of boring races and stupid rulings make we wonder if its better just the watch Drive to Survive.

[BlueFreedom]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

All the Lewis fans are so bothered and unhappy. Well I get the reason for all this disappointment, but then, if he really is the better driver and the epitome of motor racing, then let him just get that 8th Championship next year.

As for me, I am happy that the boring monotony has been broken successfully, well at least the continuous streak has been broken. Congratulations to Redbull and Max !

Absolutely no one else on the grid had anything for Lewis, or even Mercedes.

I’m all for breaking the status quo, not at the cost of a fair racing. Masi has mush for brains that guy should quit.
Thanks to max keeping the WDC open till last race an extraordinary talent, but this WDC is definitely mugged by FIA

[mnram]

Both MAX and HAM deserve the title, even though Max has been brash for the last few races. It's been a while since a close title flight has come up in F1. But the viewers definitely deserved more. The inconsistency of the FIA are a joke and in my opinion, they have helped out both the Mercs and RedBull throughout this season.

Huge respect to HAM and his dad for swallowing their pride and going to congratulate Joe and Max. A big contrast to the last race where Max walked off.

[motorworks]

The season had to end in a controversial way, didn’t it? I mean, watching Hamilton pull away comfortably, I was thinking this is such an anti-climax! But then came the twist!

A lot of people seem to be blaming Masi for the twist that favoured Max. But if you just take a step back, all that was done was fair and square. Hamilton had his fair share of luck, I don’t know why he was let off early on in the race when he went off the track and came back comfortably on the lead! Anyway, at times rules and regulations favour some and at times it doesn’t. I thought even in Jeddah the stewards were a bit more harsh on Max.

Secondly, Redbull took all the risks possible in Abu Dhabi, willingly or unwillingly. First to start on the Soft tyres, second to pit during VSC and once again during the safety car. Whereas Mercedes were far too conservative, although they were on Mediums, they pitted immediately after Max in the first stint, then did not ever think of changing tyres in spite of the VSC as well as the final safety car period. You could argue that they did not want to lose track position, but at times you need to react a bit different and Mercedes failed at that today.

Redbull were fantastic all through the weekend, the tow Perez gave Max during qualifying, then slowing down Hamilton ( that was epic from Perez by the way) and then finally taking all the risks possible by having 2 additional pit stops! So in a unpredictable scenario like this, you need to react, which Mercedes did not.

We could all argue that Hamilton was the deserving winner, but so was Max at silverstone and many such examples in the entire season, sometimes favouring max, and at times favouring Hamilton too.

Anyway, we have a winner, maybe slightly controversial, but that was always meant to be, given how the season panned out. Anything less would have been an anti-climax!

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!

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by anb

Teams decide optimum strategy based on rules and regulations of FIA.

Lewis stopping under VSC was against regulations? Infact it was Mercedes who were fully expecting a safety car and were asking Lewis on tyre preference well before the VSC happened.

Whatever happened on the last lap, Mercedes had the opportunity to cover it up, because they thought track position was paramount even when overtaking opportunities were there and Lewis was pulling a gap even on older hards.

[carlosTHEjackal]

2021 races which could have been better managed by FIA
1. Baku - Should have completed the race under Safety car.
2. Spa - Race should have been abandoned.
3. Yas Marina - Should have completed the race under Safety car.
Interesting to note that all above 3 races benefiting RBR

People predicted Schumacher's son would ensure, his father's record is intact and lo a behold, he did ensure that the record isn't broken.

To be a declared a WDC in F1 things needed are team mate's help to reduce the gap, 1 Virtual Safety Car (Pit-Stop mandatory), 1 Safety Car (Pit-Stop mandatory), 2 Sets of new tyres; un-laping of only 4 cars ahead of him and Race Director's overuling on Rules.
And not the Fastest car of the race.

[arun_josie]

What an interesting championship this was! If not for Verstappen, Hamilton would have walked away with the championship well before the last race.

Despite leading the race almost throughout, I think the strategy of keeping Hamilton out during the virtual safety car and safety car period back fired. Red bull took the risk as they didn't have any other option and it paid off for them. With still 4 laps to go, Merc decided that the race is not going to restart and didn't pit Hamilton. Had he pitted, it would have been an easy last lap for the pace he was having.

Perez was awesome during his defence against Hamilton. Despite being on the worn out tyres, he took away at least 5-6 seconds from Hamilton. Hope he fights for the championship next year instead of just being a No:2 driver.

[libranof1987]

What a race! WHAT A RACE!

Simply outstanding - from Max, Checo, Red Bull strategists. Everything was managed so damn well, and it is almost unbelievable that Mercedes bungled up tyre/pit stop strategy for Lewis - especially despite two SCs.

What a terrific defence from Checo - I'm sure all No. 1 drivers would be hoping for a No. 2 like him. He's the Minister of Defence indeed!

A new world champion - Max Verstappen! He has been phenomenal this year and does indeed deserve to be champion. Hamilton / Mercedes are such sore losers, most teams are, but Mercedes just takes it up a few notches.

Lastly, quite anti-climatic that Kimi's race was cut short but in true Kimi fashion, zero fuss about it. His radio would have made for an interesting listen! Naturally, he was voted Driver of the Day.

Overall, what a season!

[am1m]

It's been pretty obvious that the whole season was setup for a finale. Not exactly fixing of course, but a series of decisions that could have gone either way, decided based on making it a final exciting finale. I mean c'mon both contenders going in to the final race on the exact same points?! So why expect the final race to be anything else. No chance this decision will be reversed. And I mean after all Max had to actually overtake to take the lead, so personally, as a neutral I see nothing wrong. And in the end the strategy worked, it's been the most exciting season in years! So IMHO, instead of getting worked up, let's just enjoy the show!

[Vid6639]

Lewis drove brilliantly and did not put a foot wrong. Red Bull threw everything they had at Mercedes, from Perez to tyre strategy, Red Bull didn't leave any option out.

In the end the massive gamble to pit Max on lap 54 during the safety car was the one that changed the entire race. Mercedes figured track position was important and if the race finished behind safety car it was in the bag.

Red Bull figured what the hell, get Max on soft tyres and incase 1-2 lap of racing is left, Max has a better chance.

The backmarkers neither Mercedes or Red Bull could have known whether they would be allowed to unlap themselves as this was a last lap thing it could have been either ways.

Lewis with the quicker car if he had pitted and both were on fresh tyres the race would have finished in even crazy style maybe till the finish line. Mercedes shouldn't have worried on track position and covered all bases and given the chance to Lewis to fight it on track vs leaving him out there expecting the win to come to them.

Feel sad for Lewis but happy for Max. Both have fought hard and deserved to win.

[McLaren Rulez]

At least Hamilton had the grace to congratulate Max in the post-race interview.

Toto Wolff can't seem to find that sportsmanship when he loses. Purely from a PR point of view, Mercedes are making themselves look silly by bringing a barrister to a racetrack, lodging another round of appeals etc. There's been enough time for the emotions to die down by now. If Toto Wolff really thinks the result will get overturned, he is deluding himself.

This is the time to congratulate Max and celebrate their constructors title!