Agreed it was a farce
Poll: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021, Yas Island - Race 22
- Thread starter Shimmy
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Yeah, for the most part. It would still have been somewhat harsh on Hamilton but I wouldn't have had an issue. Well, unless Max pulled another one of his classic "overtakes"
If they followed the rules and it was bad luck for Lewis then so be it. Thats how it goes in F1 so often. When you change the rules on the fly knowing full well that you have massively changed the outcome of the race by doing so its not on.
You can't say "we wanted to end the season racing" when you make damn sure its not even a contest between the two cars "racing".
A little winner takes all at the end of the race might have been a fitting finish to this season.
Possibly, but "unsafe" would be a much more subjective/discretionary decision to make.
This was an objective contravention of the rules.
For someone who's ethos this year was to allow the races to be decided on track and not by the stewards, he certainly dropped the ball on that one
Though I do apply a version of Hanlons razor to it rather than it being any conspiracy against Merc/for RB
Man of Honour
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Oof, it’s true, he did seem to. That’s a decent protest. I forgot about that moment.
Deleted member 651465
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Deleted member 651465
Yes, sorry let me rephrase. my question was more:
Are people suggesting that they’d be happy with the shenanigans of “some cars can overtake” would be ok if Lewis AND Max both had fresh rubber.
My personal take would have been to a) leave the race restart using the age old SC restart procedure and let it finish under SC or b) manufacture a reason to stop it under a red flag if they wanted a splash finish.
The way they did it was a total cluster and I personally WOULDNT have been happy even if Lewis was on fresh rubber.
Well they've red flagged every other time a car has been stuck on track, Masi just had a brain implosion.
Maybe he thought Lewis stood a chance or something.
You don't need a conspiracy to be quite biased. Imagine what would happen if staunch Lewis or Max fans were allowed to rule on all the incidents this year. One of them would have been banned by now. Bias doesn't mean conspiracy but when the margins are so tight they make tiny margins into vital ones.
What seemed like a little decision to allow a final bit of racing at the end of the last lap of the season was essentially handing the title to Max.
Soldato
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Very harsh on Hamilton. Very, very harsh. Since the second flying laps of Q2 they looked clear favourites and dominated the race. Mercedes had ample opportunity to pit themselves (twice, once under the VSC) and chose not to do so, but either way it's very hard on them, especially with race control changing their minds on letting lapped cars overtake.
I could see both sides on the lap one incident. Verstappen did leave Hamilton nowhere to go (which both have done this season with no penalty) and equally Hamilton didn't back off anywhere near enough. Two wrongs don't make a right stewards.
Shame Perez's epic job in holding up Hamilton, which might be the second best racing all season after Alonso in Hungary, will likely be all but forgotten in the coming months.
A Mercedes customer causing the safety car which cost them the driver's championship. I guess that's Renault confirmed as their engine supplier for 2023.
Should Mercedes have pitted? In hindsight yes, even if Verstappen had stayed out, they still would have had a high chance, but instead they chose to try to keep track position on tyres which had no realistic chance of doing so.
They've had the fastest car since Silverstone, had question marks over their strategy before and again will have today. They were put in a hard position but chose the wrong choice.
We can wait and see if the FIA make any statement about their reversal of decision to let lapped cars overtake, but it's very, very harsh on Hamilton.
It doesn't make Verstappen an underserving world champion. He's been controversial (as has Hamilton at times) and certainly hard racing, but he's also been great for much of this season. 2021's championship will likely be looked back on as having a lucky champion, but that's not deserved. He was lucky in the circumstances in how it was won in the end though, just as Hamilton was in 2008.
I could see both sides on the lap one incident. Verstappen did leave Hamilton nowhere to go (which both have done this season with no penalty) and equally Hamilton didn't back off anywhere near enough. Two wrongs don't make a right stewards.
Shame Perez's epic job in holding up Hamilton, which might be the second best racing all season after Alonso in Hungary, will likely be all but forgotten in the coming months.
A Mercedes customer causing the safety car which cost them the driver's championship. I guess that's Renault confirmed as their engine supplier for 2023.
Should Mercedes have pitted? In hindsight yes, even if Verstappen had stayed out, they still would have had a high chance, but instead they chose to try to keep track position on tyres which had no realistic chance of doing so.
They've had the fastest car since Silverstone, had question marks over their strategy before and again will have today. They were put in a hard position but chose the wrong choice.
We can wait and see if the FIA make any statement about their reversal of decision to let lapped cars overtake, but it's very, very harsh on Hamilton.
It doesn't make Verstappen an underserving world champion. He's been controversial (as has Hamilton at times) and certainly hard racing, but he's also been great for much of this season. 2021's championship will likely be looked back on as having a lucky champion, but that's not deserved. He was lucky in the circumstances in how it was won in the end though, just as Hamilton was in 2008.
You'll get warned about it before getting any penalty, as long as it's not outright dangerous, which it wasn't. Never in F1's history has a driver been given a penalty for weaving (before a braking zone) without first having a warning.
Soldato
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Oh I don't buy into the FIA are biased towards x,y or z I don't think there is a bias at play it's just general incompetence.
As a neutral that was an exciting race.
I thought Hamilton should have given up first place after cutting the corner off earlier in the race - never seen that not happen before. The decision to race on the last lap sort of balanced that out. So credit to Red Bull's tenacity and strategy calls. At least this mixes things up and ends Mercedes domination.
I thought Hamilton should have given up first place after cutting the corner off earlier in the race - never seen that not happen before. The decision to race on the last lap sort of balanced that out. So credit to Red Bull's tenacity and strategy calls. At least this mixes things up and ends Mercedes domination.
Soldato
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Crazy! This is like a VAR decision in footy getting overturned post-match to give the losers the win. The FIA are bonkers if they change the result.
Soldato
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It could get worse, I'm sure some big money will have been riding on this. We could have sponsors, bookmakers or punters suing and being heard in a real court. Would love for this drag on until the new season just for ***** and giggles.
Associate
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yes, Merc are protesting on
1. Article 48.8 where Max appears to be in front of Lewis, although Karun's straight line isnt really that straight if you follow it along the front wheels
2. Article 48.12 when only 5 cars unlapped themselves and i believe the SC didnt do 1 more lap as per the rules.
The issue with penalising Max on 48.12 is it's not his call the Marshalls/Stewards greenlit the tract for racing so he has to race. 48.8 is trickier as both max and lewis were vying to get the best position and at times lewis broke so max would have gone ahead. i think it might come down to what do they call an "overtake" being ahead for 1-2 seconds to me isnt an overtake.
1. Article 48.8 where Max appears to be in front of Lewis, although Karun's straight line isnt really that straight if you follow it along the front wheels
2. Article 48.12 when only 5 cars unlapped themselves and i believe the SC didnt do 1 more lap as per the rules.
The issue with penalising Max on 48.12 is it's not his call the Marshalls/Stewards greenlit the tract for racing so he has to race. 48.8 is trickier as both max and lewis were vying to get the best position and at times lewis broke so max would have gone ahead. i think it might come down to what do they call an "overtake" being ahead for 1-2 seconds to me isnt an overtake.
Yea, I just think if it had been the other way around, say Lewis had come in for new tyres and Max stayed out, Masi would have made the same decision as he was just desperate to get the championship finished by racing. Then it would have been all the Max fans saying he gifted the championship to Lewis.
He was under pressure and made what seems a bit of a brain fart decision.
Man of Honour
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I suspect RB will just get a fine.
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