Poll: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021, Yas Island - Race 22

[DeliciousStorage]

Well, decision has been made. Max is the champion.

See what the appeal comes up with.

Red Bull should appeal the stewards not telling Ham to give max the lead when Ham cut the corner MASSIVELY.

Max is champion with an asterisk, don't think it will be legally settled for a long time.

Where was Lewis supposed to go without cutting the corner? Max's divebomb left him no room and he had to go off to avoid a collision, Lewis was well ahead at the entry of the corner and didn't gain a lasting advantage as he slowed down afterwards.

Max's fans will never admit that it was a rule-breaking decision that gifted him the win, despite being one of the most obvious mistakes in the history of the sport.

People on the F1 subreddit (including MANY Max fans) seem overwhelmingly united in the view that Massi broke the rules and that the legitimacy of Max's championship is in doubt.

 

[Flibster]

The Protest Deposit is not refunded.

Yeah, I mean that €2000 is such a major part of their budget...

Sorry €4000, 2 protests.

 

[the wopster]

So many Lewis fans in here clambering for excuses.

Clambering for excuses PMSL, the integrity of the sport has just gone up in smoke

 

[Malevolence]

So many Lewis fans in here clambering for excuses.

Not here, I cannot abide Hamilton. I simply think the way the race director blatantly cheated, by ignoring the rulebook and making the 'rules' up as he went along in order to hand Verstappen the title is ******* disgusting. And why he isn't under investigation for race fixing is beyond me.

 

[Resident]

So many Lewis fans in here clambering for excuses.

No fan of Lewis or or Max here however in full agreement that this race ending taints the whole championship & the integrity of F1.

For me it's clear, Masi broke FIA/F1 rules in order to gift the win to Max/RB, a win that without outside interference, Max could not have won

 

[utajoker]

As soon as max passed hamilton he should have pulled over and stopped. Not give them the show.

 

[jaybee]

I think in reality, we'd feel Hamilton was robbed even if correct procedure was followed because at the end of the day safety cars just ruin races. Until they only allow pit stops during live racing this will continue. Even red flags are rubbish because despite having the chance to all change tyres, entire leads are wiped out and strategies ruined.

This is why MotoGP is good because you have tyres that last the entire race and no pit stops at all. An actual flag to flag race which is much fairer and representative of raw pace. F1 has become a crowd pleaser and lost its pureness.

 

[jaybee]

As soon as max passed hamilton he should have pulled over and stopped. Not give them the show.

Was thinking the same, he could have pitted to avoid the podium and protest, but not sure if constructors would have still been won if he dnf'd at that point?

 

[alchal]

Love all the lewis fans crying He might be a good driver but can't stand him. Accept he won, that's it, lewis got overtaken on the last lap. lewis fans expected him to win, when he never dummy where spat out. I only watch F1 when theres a race like this, otherwise its boring, i'd rather watch **** in the sun get a crust on it.

All teams should have the same budget, all cars should be the same, then we'd see who the best drivers are. It's about money and nothing more. Why do you think the poorest teams don't win.

There are other formulas to watch if that's what you want.

F1 has never been about anything been equal.

Do you watch football? Because the poorest teams never win anything in that either.

 

[Kanpai]

This thread is a joy to read first thing this morning.

At this point it’s hard to tell if people are actually genuinely annoyed at MM or more so Lewis didn’t win the WDC.

We’ve seen the lack of inconsistency from FIA favour so many different drivers in the past, including LH, but the amount of uproar here this time I don’t think I recall ever seeing before.

1000% if the roles were reversed yesterday this thread would be full of Karen related troll comments. Why were none of you this vocal in the past when FIA showed how inconsistent they are?

But I guess this being a UK forum with a natural bias to be expected we shouldn’t really expect anything else.

So how many of you are boycotting F1?

 

[chrismscotland]

There are other formulas to watch if that's what you want.

F1 has never been about anything been equal.

Do you watch football? Because the poorest teams never win anything in that either.

I agree with you on F1; its not equal; thats what makes watching wins like Ocon in Budapest, Ricciardo at Monza and Gasly at Monza (last year) such a joy; we remember those wins; the underdogs rather than the tens of wins by Hamilton, Vettel or Alonso.
Ask most people what their favourite F1 race was and its more likely to be Europe 1999 or Spa 1998 than a race won by a Ferrari, Merc or McLaren.

The cost cap might make a difference but its never going to be "equal", Alfa, Haas, Williams just don't have the resources of Merc and Red Bull.

There also seems to be a lot of moaning about long established rules suddenly; like a safety car neutralising a race and the lead; its been part of the sport since 1973 and thats the way the safety car has worked; how many exciting races would we have been denied by the luck of the draw, chance element that a crash and a safety car brings?

I get that folk are annoyed with Masi and how he acted in that last couple of laps but lets be sensible; some of the suggestions risk turning F1 into an even more boring spectacle than it has been for the last decade.

 

[WorTortle]

I agree with you on F1; its not equal; thats what makes watching wins like Ocon in Budapest, Ricciardo at Monza and Gasly at Monza (last year) such a joy; we remember those wins; the underdogs rather than the tens of wins by Hamilton, Vettel or Alonso.
Ask most people what their favourite F1 race was and its more likely to be Europe 1999 or Spa 1998 than a race won by a Ferrari, Merc or McLaren.

The cost cap might make a difference but its never going to be "equal", Alfa, Haas, Williams just don't have the resources of Merc and Red Bull.

There also seems to be a lot of moaning about long established rules suddenly; like a safety car neutralising a race and the lead; its been part of the sport since 1973 and thats the way the safety car has worked; how many exciting races would we have been denied by the luck of the draw, chance element that a crash and a safety car brings?

I get that folk are annoyed with Masi and how he acted in that last couple of laps but lets be sensible; some of the suggestions risk turning F1 into an even more boring spectacle than it has been for the last decade.

It doesn't need fixing it just needs the rules applying as written down.

That's the issue. You have rules and you follow them. I do believe Max would have had the pace and grip to blitz the back markers anyway and probably still win it but even that would be unusual as lapped cars tend to get sent to the back anyway.

 

[ZeeWrath]

This thread is a joy to read first thing this morning.

At this point it’s hard to tell if people are actually genuinely annoyed at MM or more so Lewis didn’t win the WDC.

We’ve seen the lack of inconsistency from FIA favour so many different drivers in the past, including LH, but the amount of uproar here this time I don’t think I recall ever seeing before.

1000% if the roles were reversed yesterday this thread would be full of Karen related troll comments. Why were none of you this vocal in the past when FIA showed how inconsistent they are?

But I guess this being a UK forum with a natural bias to be expected we shouldn’t really expect anything else.

So how many of you are boycotting F1?

I'm annoyed at Masi, redbull did nothing wrong.

Although the racing incidents have been inconsistent, prior to this I thought the SC stuff was pretty well oiled and you knew what to expect. Had Latifi hit the wall a few laps earlier or they been quicker at clearing then Max still wins but you know rules are rules.

Instead we get this mess based on how Masi is feeling, creating a situation where Max has no threat from behind on the restart isn't fair.

 

[Feek]

I said that I'd have no problem who won this weekend, providing it was clean.

This doesn't feel clean to me. Lewis completely outdrove Max yesterday, this was demonstrated by the fact that with just six laps to go, Max couldn't get close to Lewis, despite being on much newer tyres.

The FIA changed the rules on the fly and forced a one lap race between Lewis and Max, the former on hard, worn tyres that were 40+ laps old and the latter on brand spanking new soft tyres.

There could only be one outcome and Michael Masi must have known that. It's an utter disgrace. The drivers kept it clean, the FIA intervened and gifted the WDC to Max. What a farce.

 

[koolpc]

Lots of things happen in F1 that upset people. Especially if it goes against the driver you support.

Many a race has been won and lost because of a decision outside the bounds of the driver.

 

[MM-Seat]

This thread is a joy to read first thing this morning.

At this point it’s hard to tell if people are actually genuinely annoyed at MM or more so Lewis didn’t win the WDC.

We’ve seen the lack of inconsistency from FIA favour so many different drivers in the past, including LH, but the amount of uproar here this time I don’t think I recall ever seeing before.

1000% if the roles were reversed yesterday this thread would be full of Karen related troll comments. Why were none of you this vocal in the past when FIA showed how inconsistent they are?

But I guess this being a UK forum with a natural bias to be expected we shouldn’t really expect anything else.

So how many of you are boycotting F1?

I’ve seen multiple post of “I’m not an Hamilton fan but…”

This really isn’t about justifying why Hamilton hasn’t won a championship it is genuine concern about how the result was reached.

As other have said, this is like a champions league final being won 3-0 in injury time and the ref awarding a penalty and announcing next goal wins. Absurd!

 

[Owenb]

I think in reality, we'd feel Hamilton was robbed even if correct procedure was followed because at the end of the day safety cars just ruin races. Until they only allow pit stops during live racing this will continue. Even red flags are rubbish because despite having the chance to all change tyres, entire leads are wiped out and strategies ruined.

This is why MotoGP is good because you have tyres that last the entire race and no pit stops at all. An actual flag to flag race which is much fairer and representative of raw pace. F1 has become a crowd pleaser and lost its pureness.

Spot on. Safety car rules are the problem. I have been saying that for 20 years. It is just manufacturered drama. The problem is that many F1 races need that drama otherwise they can be rather dull.
If I was Hamilton my main grievance would be Max been able to get fresh tyres while that option wasn't really on the cards for Hamilton.
I am not sure Mercedes will go any further with this. They lost on track, albeit in very controversial circumstances. I am not sure they want to win the WDC in court.

 

[Psycho Ned]

I don’t have an issue with the safety car that has been deployed dozens of times before and that was the correct time to deploy it to clear an obstruction.

If the race was 1 lap longer and the proper safety car rules were applied correctly we’d have had the same result I’d have bemoaned Hams bad luck and probably blamed Merc for not pitting him.

What we got was the rules not being applied the way they’ve been applied dozens of times before and a total Hail Mary being called by race control. Contriving an unequal race between 2 drivers and throwing the last 50 laps out the window.

Nothing will change now and it’ll always be one of those sporting injustices people talk about (like hand of god!) so I guess it’s time to move on to 2022…..

 

[markoboyo11]

Spot on. Safety car rules are the problem. I have been saying that for 20 years. It is just manufacturered drama. The problem is that many F1 races need that drama otherwise they can be rather dull.
If I was Hamilton my main grievance would be Max been able to get fresh tyres while that option wasn't really on the cards for Hamilton.
I am not sure Mercedes will go any further with this. They lost on track, albeit in very controversial circumstances. I am not sure they want to win the WDC in court.

Merc had time to get fresh softs too......before max, he would have had fresh tires and track position. Merc messed up.
The only thing mm did wrong was with the lapped cars, a big mistake.

 

[sparkymark75]

Love all the lewis fans crying He might be a good driver but can't stand him. Accept he won, that's it, lewis got overtaken on the last lap. lewis fans expected him to win, when he never dummy where spat out. I only watch F1 when theres a race like this, otherwise its boring, i'd rather watch **** in the sun get a crust on it.

All teams should have the same budget, all cars should be the same, then we'd see who the best drivers are. It's about money and nothing more. Why do you think the poorest teams don't win.

A lot of Verstappen fans seem to have the blinkered take on things. Their hatred of Lewis trumps anything, including F1 itself. Even folk that aren’t Hamilton fans are concerned about this as it sets a dangerous precedent. They can’t see past their hero’s tainted title.