2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina, Dec 10 - 12

[GrizzleBoy]

It honestly seems to me its only Lewis fans that can't see the best driver, over a season, won.

Fastest over the whole season ? Maybe.

Best driver ? A driver who still can't race wheel to wheel ? Even Perez did a better job than him today, when it came to that...

Perez has been doing a better job than Max in showing actual racing skills all year.

Lewis v Perez in Sochi.

Lewis v Perez in Brazil.

Lewis v Perez in Abu Dhabi.

All memorable battles where Perez put up super hard defending that went corner to corner and lap for lap, without incurring any penalties or tarnishing his name or respect in the sport from the fans and pundits.

Max on the other hand, has quite literally not been able to enter into a racing situation with another competitive car and keep his car on the racing track without crashing, causing incident or controversy, even so going so far as hitting another driver in the actual head with his car!

So yes, "better driver" is clearly an extremely subjective term.

[west52keep64]

Can't believe Alonso still has negative feelings for Hamilton!

The guy this year has proven time and time again how big a fan of Max he is just because Max is having a chance of beating Lewis! This so low class from Fernando! No questions on why he didn't manage to win more than 2 championships after Hamilton, Vettel showed up...

Must admit, I have little to no respect for Alonso, he's been a back stabber in every team he's ever joined. Renault even orchestrated crash-gate to help him win. He was good in his day, but he's an also-ran now, and 2022 will be his last season in F1. I doubt he will take the triple crown either, his Indy attempts have been a disaster.

[BlueCheetah66]

Masi really has to go after this season. I do not think he rigged it for Max to win, but his poor, indecisive decision making allowed RB to benefit from some luck. That's why I don't think it is fair to label Max an undeserving champion. Plus it is a season-long championship, not a cup final. Max and Lewis have been as close to equal through the season. Either driver that came out on top was deserving

I agree, I think Masi thought it was a smart compromise at the time. But I can’t tell if he was favouring Max or actually didn’t understand it was ever going to be a fight. If it’s either he isn’t fit for the job and I expect he will be leaving in a few weeks. I don’t think you can overturn the result, it wouldn’t be right. I am proud of the Hamilton’s reaction after the race and that’s what great competitors do.

I still find it crazy that they don't have a team of Race Directors. That is the first thing they should add next year, especially if they keep allowing this amount of heckling on the radio from teams. Placing a high-stakes, time-limited decision like that on one man is basically guaranteeing that 7/10 an irrational decision is going to be made. Probably 9/10 with Masi in charge

[Spoutnik]

What struck me the most is the fact that the ending of the SC was stated at the very beginning of sector 3 ? I mean how on earth +30 laps hard tyres can be warm in that way ? This kind of amateurism could have been really dangerous on others conditions.

Plus, usually the ending of the SC is stated at the very beginning of the lap or at least of sector 2.

[leftyiz]

Can't believe Alonso still has negative feelings for Hamilton!

The guy this year has proven time and time again how big a fan of Max he is just because Max is having a chance of beating Lewis! This so low class from Fernando! No questions on why he didn't manage to win more than 2 championships after Hamilton, Vettel showed up...

You can understand after his failed mid-career at Ferrari/McLaren he could have smashed Schumacher/Lewis record

[Shrieker]

What struck me the most is the fact that the ending of the SC was stated at the very beginning of sector 3 ? I mean how on earth +30 laps hard tyres can be warm in that way ? This kind of amateurism could have been really dangerous on others conditions.

Plus, usually the ending of the SC is stated at the very beginning of the lap or at least of sector 2.

The more you look, the uglier it gets...

[Spoutnik]

It honestly seems to me its only Lewis fans that can't see the best driver, over a season, won.

Fastest over the whole season ? Maybe.

Best driver ? A driver who still can't race wheel to wheel ? Even Perez did a better job than him today, when it came to that...

Perez has been doing a better job than Max in showing actual racing skills all year.

Lewis v Perez in Sochi.

Lewis v Perez in Brazil.

Lewis v Perez in Abu Dhabi.

All memorable battles where Perez put up super hard defending that went corner to corner and lap for lap, without incurring any penalties or tarnishing his name or respect in the sport from the fans and pundits.

Max on the other hand, has quite literally not been able to enter into a racing situation with another competitive car and keep his car on the racing track without crashing, causing incident or controversy, even so going so far as hitting another driver in the actual head with his car!

So yes, "better driver" is clearly an extremely subjective term.

You probably meant Lewis vs Sergio in Turkey I guess. I strongly agree with you

I would add that Max has never really been able to fight Lewis on track and ouvertake him apart from race start with exception of France with tyre deg.
On the other hand Lewis has been quite impressive by overtaking Max on track without any significant performance delta due to tyres (Brazil, Portugal, Saudi Arabia...).

[Brake Horse Power]

Masi really has to go after this season. I do not think he rigged it for Max to win, but his poor, indecisive decision making allowed RB to benefit from some luck. That's why I don't think it is fair to label Max an undeserving champion. Plus it is a season-long championship, not a cup final. Max and Lewis have been as close to equal through the season. Either driver that came out on top was deserving

He completely did rig it for Max to win.

Let’s look at the facts.
Normal SC restart involves all lapped cars unlapping themselves and then on the next lap a restart.
Today Masi decided only cars between a guy on 46 lap old hards in 1st and a guy on 1 lap old Softs in 2nd need clearing. Oh and we’ll not bother with the normal restart but throw it within seconds of the very same selective lapped cars being clear. The only way he could think that was in any way fair is if he didn’t know that the guy on 46 lap hards stood no chance against a guy in 1 lap Softs. If that’s is the case he’s an imbecile.

I don’t think he’s an imbecile so he knew what was coming next. It WAS rigged after being egged on by RedBull no less.

It is absolutely irrelevant who is on which position and on which tires for his decision making. Should he have favoured Ham?

It was decided upfront in conjunction with the teams that finishing under SC is not desired so they didn’t. Merc gambled and lost, they could have pitted but didn’t.

[El Scorchio]

Masi really has to go after this season. I do not think he rigged it for Max to win, but his poor, indecisive decision making allowed RB to benefit from some luck. That's why I don't think it is fair to label Max an undeserving champion. Plus it is a season-long championship, not a cup final. Max and Lewis have been as close to equal through the season. Either driver that came out on top was deserving

I agree, I think Masi thought it was a smart compromise at the time. But I can’t tell if he was favouring Max or actually didn’t understand it was ever going to be a fight. If it’s either he isn’t fit for the job and I expect he will be leaving in a few weeks. I don’t think you can overturn the result, it wouldn’t be right. I am proud of the Hamilton’s reaction after the race and that’s what great competitors do.

Well, I think the one thing we can all agree on is that Masi should be getting his p45 pronto.

His tenure has been one farce following another in seek of blockbuster highlight reel moments and the sport has suffered immensely.

Today was the crowning **** on the **** sandwich. Being unable to control the drivers and teams is one thing but to disregard and rewrite the rules just to ensure the race didn’t end under a safety car as it should have- there clearly wasn’t time to complete the required procedure so it should have been either no unlapping and race the last lap or unlap them all PROPERLY, which would have bound the SC to be out one more lap. It’s almost tantamount to match fixing.

I hope come the spring he’s back where he belongs, adjudicating the Australian under 7s radio controlled car racing championships or something similar, because he should never sniff an F1 race again.

[wesley123]

Those grapes you’re eating seem pretty sour. If Massi had let the backmarkers pass earlier, same result mate.

If you think the result is the issue then you clearly have no clue what is even going on.

[Hoffman900]

Masi really has to go after this season. I do not think he rigged it for Max to win, but his poor, indecisive decision making allowed RB to benefit from some luck. That's why I don't think it is fair to label Max an undeserving champion. Plus it is a season-long championship, not a cup final. Max and Lewis have been as close to equal through the season. Either driver that came out on top was deserving

He completely did rig it for Max to win.

Let’s look at the facts.
Normal SC restart involves all lapped cars unlapping themselves and then on the next lap a restart.
Today Masi decided only cars between a guy on 46 lap old hards in 1st and a guy on 1 lap old Softs in 2nd need clearing. Oh and we’ll not bother with the normal restart but throw it within seconds of the very same selective lapped cars being clear. The only way he could think that was in any way fair is if he didn’t know that the guy on 46 lap hards stood no chance against a guy in 1 lap Softs. If that’s is the case he’s an imbecile.

I don’t think he’s an imbecile so he knew what was coming next. It WAS rigged after being egged on by RedBull no less.

It is absolutely irrelevant who is on which position and on which tires for his decision making. Should he have favoured Ham?

It was decided upfront in conjunction with the teams that finishing under SC is not desired so they didn’t. Merc gambled and lost, they could have pitted but didn’t.

It wasn’t a gamble. Strategy is contingent on knowing the bounds of the ruleset in which you participate. When those are thrown out the door, it isn’t luck or strategy, it’s manipulation through incompetence (Masi) or purposeful.

[Just_a_fan]

I hope come the spring he’s back where he belongs, adjudicating the Australian under 7s radio controlled car racing championships or something similar, because he should never sniff an F1 race again.

You do know the FIA won't sack him, don't you? The media won't ask the question for fear of losing their accreditation to attend races - lovely jolly that is! - and it'll all be officially forgotten.

I just hope that a driver or team principal asks him next season what rules he applying during a safety car.

[Tom145145]

Masi really has to go after this season. I do not think he rigged it for Max to win, but his poor, indecisive decision making allowed RB to benefit from some luck. That's why I don't think it is fair to label Max an undeserving champion. Plus it is a season-long championship, not a cup final. Max and Lewis have been as close to equal through the season. Either driver that came out on top was deserving

He completely did rig it for Max to win.

Let’s look at the facts.
Normal SC restart involves all lapped cars unlapping themselves and then on the next lap a restart.
Today Masi decided only cars between a guy on 46 lap old hards in 1st and a guy on 1 lap old Softs in 2nd need clearing. Oh and we’ll not bother with the normal restart but throw it within seconds of the very same selective lapped cars being clear. The only way he could think that was in any way fair is if he didn’t know that the guy on 46 lap hards stood no chance against a guy in 1 lap Softs. If that’s is the case he’s an imbecile.

I don’t think he’s an imbecile so he knew what was coming next. It WAS rigged after being egged on by RedBull no less.

It is absolutely irrelevant who is on which position and on which tires for his decision making. Should he have favoured Ham?

It was decided upfront in conjunction with the teams that finishing under SC is not desired so they didn’t. Merc gambled and lost, they could have pitted but didn’t.

And this is why Masi needs to go. He is the race director not the pantomime director. If the race needs to end under the SC it ends under the SC, why waste time agreeing between anyone.

[El Scorchio]

Masi really has to go after this season. I do not think he rigged it for Max to win, but his poor, indecisive decision making allowed RB to benefit from some luck. That's why I don't think it is fair to label Max an undeserving champion. Plus it is a season-long championship, not a cup final. Max and Lewis have been as close to equal through the season. Either driver that came out on top was deserving

He completely did rig it for Max to win.

Let’s look at the facts.
Normal SC restart involves all lapped cars unlapping themselves and then on the next lap a restart.
Today Masi decided only cars between a guy on 46 lap old hards in 1st and a guy on 1 lap old Softs in 2nd need clearing. Oh and we’ll not bother with the normal restart but throw it within seconds of the very same selective lapped cars being clear. The only way he could think that was in any way fair is if he didn’t know that the guy on 46 lap hards stood no chance against a guy in 1 lap Softs. If that’s is the case he’s an imbecile.

I don’t think he’s an imbecile so he knew what was coming next. It WAS rigged after being egged on by RedBull no less.

It is absolutely irrelevant who is on which position and on which tires for his decision making. Should he have favoured Ham?

It was decided upfront in conjunction with the teams that finishing under SC is not desired so they didn’t. Merc gambled and lost, they could have pitted but didn’t.

Just because it’s desired doesn’t mean you throw the rule book out of the window to make sure it happens.

[Hoffman900]

It’s hysterical to see people who argue over .2mm of technical regs (and threaten with lawyers - RB) decide throwing out half the rule book on the fly is “sport”. It’s entertainment sure, but it ceases to become sport.