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

[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 of 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.

 

[omnomnom]

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

Merc didnt get it wrong though did they....thats the point people have made several times before.

 

[Journey]

As said this has nothing to do with the WDC, I believe that max should keep the WDC regardless of the outcome, as I said previously. However we need clarity for the sake of the sport and every driver who drives in the sport as well as the thousands of members of the teams who have jobs they want to keep, which is based on scoring points to be paid etc.

If the FIA want to put their fingers in their collective ears and go la-la-la-la-la-la we can't hear you then it's not really a sport anymore, its a guessing game, since without clearly defined rules that are followed ALL OF THE TIME then why would anyone want to take part? Imagine if you went to work and at the end of each month you have to guess if you were getting paid £50, £1000, £5000 or perhaps nothing based on someones random decision in an office that you have no say in.

 

[jaybee]

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

If they pitted Lewis, Max would have stayed out to take the lead and the race would have ended under SC.

 

[Maundie]

Blah blah blah

So how many of you are boycotting F1?

I am so far from a Hamilton fan (he whines so much he makes Cheesefest seem like a nice placid chap) but all I want is a nice clean race where the best driver comes out on top, yesterday with a 11 second lead and several lapped cars between him and 2nd place it was quite obvious that Max wasn't getting anywhere near to Lewis due to his performance on the day, in steps the "let's change the rules on the fly" brigade and removes the goalposts that Lewis is kicking at (to use a football analogy as previous people seem to want to use one) and then say next goal wins.

With your comments it's quite obvious who you wanted to win and it didn't matter how it was gained where I was happy for the best driver/car combination for the overall season to win in a nice close fought uncontroversial race, unfortunately the FIA have decided against that and with that it has turned me of the sport as what is the point in watching if they pre-decide who wins WWE style so with that I shall be bowing out to concentrate my efforts on a much more enjoyable sport (to me at least).

 

[jonneymendoza]

As said this has nothing to do with the WDC, I believe that max should keep the WDC regardless of the outcome, as I said previously. However we need clarity for the sake of the sport and every driver who drives in the sport as well as the thousands of members of the teams who have jobs they want to keep, which is based on scoring points to be paid etc.

If the FIA want to put their fingers in their collective ears and go la-la-la-la-la-la we can't hear you then it's not really a sport anymore, its a guessing game, since without clearly defined rules that are followed ALL OF THE TIME then why would anyone want to take part? Imagine if you went to work and at the end of each month you have to guess if you were getting paid £50, £1000, £5000 or perhaps nothing based on someones random decision in an office that you have no say in.

If FIA is found guilty, sorry but max should be strpped off of the title as he only won it because of FIA gifting it to them.

FIA need to be punished as well. severely

 

[Jase]

If they pitted Lewis, Max would have stayed out to take the lead and the race would have ended under SC.

The first part of your statement is correct, the other bit is fictional.

 

[Kenai]

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.

Because this wasn't just a 'lack of consistency' from the FIA, this was choosing to rewrite/reinterpret/throw away the rules on the fly and create an unfair playing field.

At the point the safety car is called, Mercedes are presented with a choice (historically always a bit of a crap choice but that's how it is). They can stay out for track position or pit for better tyres but sacrifice the lead. They'll have mounds of strategy data telling them the likelihood of needing to go racing again at that point in the race and on that basis, they make a decision based on the expected rules - there would either be back markers between Lewis and Max if it does restart that quickly or it'll take long enough to sort them out (as per the written rules) to see out the race distance so the best (arguably only) choice for them is to stay out. If this happened 5 laps earlier, i'm sure they'd have pitted, sacrificed the lead but been comfortable they'd have had a few laps to run at Max with a clear pace advantage.

What Masi did was change the parameters completely to force a restart sooner than expected and without following the established procedure either way, which the FIA have justified with 'well we're interpreting this other rule to mean the director can do whatever he wants' - you might as well throw the safety car section of the regs away at that point. This means that the decision Mercedes made is no longer based in the reality they're then presented with, a reality that more than likely would have seen them pit, if they'd known that regardless of anything else, Masi was going to force at least one racing lap with no back markers present. This isn't sporting and it certainly isn't fair behaviour.

This all becomes doubly bitter when it all happens moments after Horner says "we need one lap" to Masi over the radio.

 

[jonneymendoza]

If they pitted Lewis, Max would have stayed out to take the lead and the race would have ended under SC.

i dont understand why many dont read?

This has been said a thousand times here...

 

[Jase]

If FIA is found guilty, sorry but max should be strpped off of the title as he only won it because of FIA gifting it to them.

FIA need to be punished as well. severely

It would be hard to strip Max of his title as they are then predicting the outcome by giving it to Hamilton. If Max wasn't allowed to pass the other cars he "may" still have caught/passed Hamilton or something else may have happened etc.

 

[jaybee]

Yeah I don't know where I will get my Motorsport fix now. I don't like any of the riders left in MotoGP or BSB now and I haven't watched dodgey BTCC for years. F2 and e-series are just a bit lame and I don't watch indy or NASCAR ****. WRC is just a bit boring to watch being time trial.
F1 is entertaining when it's fair.

 

[Psymonkee]

Yeah I don't know where I will get my Motorsport fix now. I don't like any of the riders left in MotoGP or BSB now and I haven't watched dodgey BTCC for years. F2 and e-series are just a bit lame and I don't watch indy or NASCAR ****. WRC is just a bit boring to watch being time trial.
F1 is entertaining when it's fair.

Aussie V8 supercars will give you your fix!

 

[Armageus]

F1 is entertaining when it's fair.

When was that last the case - the 70's?

 

[MissChief]

Imagine if they said at the first race of the season the person who crosses the line after the first lap wins the championship? That’s effectively what was manufactured by Masi for views, clicks, Netflix and news.

 

[markoboyo11]

The first part of your statement is correct, the other bit is fictional.

Yeh too many tin foil hats to debate anything here.

 

[jaybee]

When was that last the case - the 70's?

I don't remember many championships that went down as underserved and highly controversial. The Hamilton one in Brazil with the Glock thing was pure luck. Nothing dodgey about that. Him and Massa would have deserved it. So yeah I do think F1 mostly sort stuff out fairly over the years. This year has been the worst stewarding and ruling ever by a very long way. Consistently inconsistent. Corrupt. Unfair. Bias.

 

[omnomnom]

It would be hard to strip Max of his title as they are then predicting the outcome by giving it to Hamilton. If Max wasn't allowed to pass the other cars he "may" still have caught/passed Hamilton or something else may have happened etc.

The race should have finished behind the safety car though...isnt that Mercedes' argument? I mean letting only Verstappen through seems dodgy as well. Why wasn't 3rd place allowed to challenge?

 

[Kenai]

Merc had time to get fresh softs too......before max, he would of had fresh tires and track position. Merc messed up.

This is simply false, he didn't have that sort of time at all.

It was a 12s gap - there's no way he gets in and out before Max goes past.

5 laps before the end of the race with that sort of accident to clean up and lapped cars to sort out - it would have been a suicidal bet by Mercedes to pit Lewis, they'd have been handing Max the Championship on a plate.