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

[Ryar]

I'll be happy if all it does is ensure Massi gets kicked to the curb, and we get a new race director and rules that ensure dirty driving is punished harshly and consistently!

If only emotions can be that raw for the governing body officials to take actions to please fans. I would love to see him go for not giving due consideration for examining the questionable legality of Mercedes car.

You seemed to have forgotten the questionable legality of the Red Bulls rear wing!

Was that let go unchecked? Like the engine plenum trickery or the bendy rear wing with an extended slot gap and deformation of main plane, a suspension that is aiding aero benefit, a flexible front wing?

[dans79]

If only emotions can be that raw for the governing body officials to take actions to please fans. I would love to see him go for not giving due consideration for examining the questionable legality of Mercedes car.

You seemed to have forgotten the questionable legality of the Red Bulls rear wing!

Was that let go unchecked? Like the engine plenum trickery or the bendy rear wing with an extended slot gap, a suspension that is aiding aero benefit, a flexible front wing?

All cleared by the FIA!

[Ryar]

You seemed to have forgotten the questionable legality of the Red Bulls rear wing!

Was that let go unchecked? Like the engine plenum trickery or the bendy rear wing with an extended slot gap, a suspension that is aiding aero benefit, a flexible front wing?

All cleared by the FIA!

Exactly. That's the point. All cleared without even looking into. That's why he should go.

[dans79]

Exactly. That's the point. All cleared without even looking into. That's why he should go.

You mean like turn 4 in Brazil!

[darkpino]

Haha you guys should watch some IndyCar, that would show you some real racing instead of this baby show

[analyst]

While reading this thread I realize why people belief in aliens, illuminati, computer chips in injections.

Because the reality is too hard to handle.

That we are all just a bunch of guys on a planet trying to do well to our own accord, that the race director might think: "--- it i don't ant to end this season in a yellow flag, let's get it going" and "with 4 cars in between there is no fight". And this all in a matter of minutes, fractions of seconds, making a call. It's like being on the high way being distracted for a second because you open your phone and making a crash. He might regret, he might not, but life is not pre-planned. These guys there are just like yourself, flawed, distracted, emotional.

In my experience, we are all just human, we make calls, say things, make decisions in fraction of seconds, that might influence our whole lives and the lives of others for better or good. That's why we shouldn't give individual humans too much power because all of us are this flawed even though they might present themselves very different.

We grew up with the concept of fairness. But fairness doesn't exist. Even in the court of law Judges give different sentences after lunch vs before lunch. Because unaware judges want to get it over with before lunch and punish harsher. After lunch they are more relaxed and more compassionate.

Law, rules, are just man-made. They are no laws of god or nature whatever you prefer to call it. Hence they are flawed, need to be interpreted, every situation is different. Many people think they know what is true or not true when I read the posts here.

I think that's naive. Take a step back. Go to the moon. Look at yourself. All angry and frustrated about the outcome. Now who is wrong here. The obsession is the fault you're making. Life is unfair, because fairness is a man-made concept, it's a lie.

What is true though is that we saw an amazing season, full of emotions, which I'm grateful for, what a ride!

Enough preaching, have a great day lads.

[Ryar]

Exactly. That's the point. All cleared without even looking into. That's why he should go.

You mean like turn 4 in Brazil!

More like turn 6 last night.

[darkpino]

While reading this thread I realize why people belief in aliens, illuminati, computer chips in injections.

Because the reality is too hard to handle.

That we are all just a bunch of guys on a planet trying to do well to our own accord, that the race director might think: "--- it i don't ant to end this season in a yellow flag, let's get it going" and "with 4 cars in between there is no fight". And this all in a matter of minutes, fractions of seconds, making a call. It's like being on the high way being distracted for a second because you open your phone and making a crash. He might regret, he might not, but life is not pre-planned. These guys there are just like yourself, flawed, distracted, emotional.

In my experience, we are all just human, we make calls, say things, make decisions in fraction of seconds, that might influence our whole lives and the lives of others for better or good. That's why we shouldn't give individual humans too much power because all of us are this flawed even though they might present themselves very different.

We grew up with the concept of fairness. But fairness doesn't exist. Even in the court of law Judges give different sentences after lunch vs before lunch. Because unaware judges want to get it over with before lunch and punish harsher. After lunch they are more relaxed and more compassionate.

Law, rules, are just man-made. They are no laws of god or nature whatever you prefer to call it. Hence they are flawed, need to be interpreted, every situation is different. Many people think they know what is true or not true when I read the posts here.

I think that's naive. Take a step back. Go to the moon. Look at yourself. All angry and frustrated about the outcome. Now who is wrong here. The obsession is the fault you're making. Life is unfair, because fairness is a man-made concept, it's a lie.

What is true though is that we saw an amazing season, full of emotions, which I'm grateful for, what a ride!

Enough preaching, have a great day lads.

Well said! See you guys around winter testing again!

[Stu]

Mercedes are right to bring a lawyer. With how these regulators are behaving you need lawyers.

Nothing against Max, but I don't see how his fans are accepting to win like this. In fact I don't even see how Horner wants to win this way either.

I await the result of protest regarding the breach.

They should not be allowed to influence the sport in this way, more so by breaching regulations, or abusing power, in a last minute bid to favour a competitor.
I do not think this will be resolved today. It may well go to a court house. The FIA cannot sanction themselves.

“The FIA cannot sanction themselves”, err, that is exactly what they do! They write the rules, they use the Race Director to interpret the rules for the situation presented. However, many of the rules have been routinely ignored if/when it is convenient to do so (this has been so for years)

[timorous]

Wow what a Sh#tstorm this is.


Lewis was extremely lucky in Imola where he got 18 point by sheer luck, after doing a blunder.
In Buku Lewis made an driver error and lost 25 point.
In Hungary Lewis was reworded another bag of points by sheer luck.
At Silverstone he got penalized which didn't hurt him one bit.
Max went up and over the line sometimes, but got plenty of penalties for that.
In Abu Dhabi Max was extremely lucky.

Imagine yourself the SC would all have been happened 3 laps earlier and Max would have won by 10 seconds on his new reds. Who would you then blame? Merc for not pitting? Still Masi. Latifi perhaps? You have the right to be disappointed, but saying you were robbed and Max didn't deserve to win is complete and utter nonsense. Also Masi has quite a hard job with 2 Whining babies of Teams principles calling him at the most inconvenient times.

Lewis Hamilton is still the greatest ever driver by statistics. He still has 7 titles and more to race for.

If the SC happens earlier then that is a 'thems the breaks' situation. It sucks but that is how it goes some times. The difference is in that situation I would 100% accept the outcome because all the protocols would have been adhered to correctly. As it stands I do not accept this result because it was not inline with the rules.

[Tvetovnato]

Nothing is going to change the fact that, Max is the 2021 F1 WDC. He deserved it more than anyone else did and earned it rightfully by performing in the given circumstances. If the FIA executed some decisions in a different manner, you can't blame Max for that. So, no "*" is going to be added in any official version, definitely not in my version, except in someone's thought process. That is why I called it, self serving.

Performing in the given circumstances? When most have been on the line this season, i.e last race and this race, Max performed by:

-binning a safe pole position with a crash
-getting three penalties in one race for dangerous/illegal racing manouvres that would warrant grid penalty in any other situation
-walking off the podium celebrations when losing, because it was ”not fun”
-binning a set of mediums by destroying them in Q2, leaving him nowhere in stint 1 in the title decider
- getting the actual title through no means of his own, but by a race control decision that wants a show

And of course saying to the world that the FIA is against him, because they penalize what he genuinly and honestly considers to be fair racing (just watch SA again). Sure, Max is extremely fast, but nothing else about him speaks of a champion, especially not after a fabricated gift like yesterday.

On to 2022 where hopefully he will get to race drivers who are not as sensible and kind as Lewis when it comes to giving him the illegal space on track that he always demands. Then he will be in for some more nice penalties which will hopefully wreck his title chances for real. Maybe then he will realize how to properly conduct racing.

Enjoy your ”champ”!

In my opinion Max showed that when he has a bit overspeed (like Mercedes had since Silverstone) he’s more than capable to race in a fair way en leaving space to his competitors. That’s the thing: Lewis had a car which was superior in every way for almost a decade: he didn’t have to race hard and the one year he had (2016? Against Rosberg?) he lost also because he simply can’t.

That doesn’t take away the legend he is because 7 titles speak for them self even being in the quickest car. To get ready year after year to beat at least your team mate takes some dedication in my opinion! (Which maybe shows in the fact he was always a slow season starter).

Now regarding your comments: In my opinion Mercedes is the only ones who are the really sore losers here. Never have seen this before in professional sports (feels like deja vu this for me lol), the first two protests were pretty outrageous to me after all the luck the had with red flags and safety cars this season. Family Hamilton and Verstappen were really classy to each other (with a big wow to Hamilton after his loss for acting like that), somehow Mercedes can’t.

Last thing I want to add: I really feel for the #44 fans, pretty much the whole weekend looked in the bag till lap 57, in my opinion Lewis would have been the right race winner today so I understand his fans feeling cheated. Again Mercedes dropped the ball massively regarding strategy just like they’ve been doing all season (except Spain) so that is on them. But overall over the season I think Max/RBR we’re extremely unlucky with red flag situations/safety cars/and even being crashed out of the race by a certain team mate… ofcourse I’m biased but I think he had his share of luck yesterday which came just in time

One thing that is surprisingly overlooked is that Max’s gifted points at Spa, where no racing was even allowed to take place, proved to be completely decisive in the end. That is nothing short of disgraceful, and the FIA seriously need to have an investigation made of their whole operation.

[ArcticWolfie]

Wow what a Sh#tstorm this is.


Lewis was extremely lucky in Imola where he got 18 point by sheer luck, after doing a blunder.
In Buku Lewis made an driver error and lost 25 point.
In Hungary Lewis was reworded another bag of points by sheer luck.
At Silverstone he got penalized which didn't hurt him one bit.
Max went up and over the line sometimes, but got plenty of penalties for that.
In Abu Dhabi Max was extremely lucky.

Imagine yourself the SC would all have been happened 3 laps earlier and Max would have won by 10 seconds on his new reds. Who would you then blame? Merc for not pitting? Still Masi. Latifi perhaps? You have the right to be disappointed, but saying you were robbed and Max didn't deserve to win is complete and utter nonsense. Also Masi has quite a hard job with 2 Whining babies of Teams principles calling him at the most inconvenient times.

Lewis Hamilton is still the greatest ever driver by statistics. He still has 7 titles and more to race for.

If the SC happens earlier then that is a 'thems the breaks' situation. It sucks but that is how it goes some times. The difference is in that situation I would 100% accept the outcome because all the protocols would have been adhered to correctly. As it stands I do not accept this result because it was not inline with the rules.

To be honest it is a bit weird what happened, but... if they didn't let those 5 pass the SC, then it would've been no different than a SC finish, which nobody wanted.

The SC rule is a bit vague, but all SC rules are there to ensure a safe restart for both marshalls and contenders and those requirements were met. So no rules were broken.
Althought, Wolff was doing his best to influence the race... first with his "No SC kthx" comment during the VSC and then shouting at Masi

[Andres125sx]

FIA...

Another season with politics deciding the title, not new in F1 I´m afraid

Anycase, congratulations to Max and Red Bull, they did a great job this season. Max probably the best driver of the season, but we can´t ignore FIA decisions did favour Max massively, not only in this final race.

Congratulations to Sainz too, best of the rest and beating a highly rated Lecrerc in his first season in red

[geogate]

Imagine yourself the SC would all have been happened 3 laps earlier and Max would have won by 10 seconds on his new reds. Who would you then blame? Merc for not pitting? Still Masi. Latifi perhaps?

There wouldnt be anyone to blame, it would just have been bad fortune for Hamilton - that is kinda the point isnt it?
Im not a particular fan of any driver, but the end of that race was just ridiculous and made a mockery of the season as a sporting event. Great for the Netflix audience, i expect though.

[dans79]

Great for the Netflix audience, i expect though.

Yea, and that's the a problem! Netflix, and the let them race mentality (that Horner likes to babble about so much), is ensuring that F1 will no longer be considered a sport!