• Thank you all very much for sharing your time with us in 2025. We hope you all have a safe and happy 2026!

F1 2021

They don’t have any case for the Sainz situation… and if you were not such a bobble hat you would see the pragmatism in it all .
Lewis lost, give it up, he had no response because he was on a risky long stint .. it’s happened in the past and it will happen again in the future..
On that note I am out and leave you all to argue the toss and I will watch if the appeal ever happens ( suspect it won’t as they have an agreement to race.. they will talk about a break away series , like they always do .. but in the end it will be here next year as sure as eggs is eggs)

See ya ?
 
They don’t have any case for the Sainz situation… and if you were not such a bobble hat you would see the pragmatism in it all .
Lewis lost, give it up, he had no response because he was on a risky long stint .. it’s happened in the past and it will happen again in the future..
On that note I am out and leave you all to argue the toss and I will watch if the appeal ever happens ( suspect it won’t as they have an agreement to race.. they will talk about a break away series , like they always do .. but in the end it will be here next year as sure as eggs is eggs)
The bit in bold is about the only thing you have said that has by full support :)
 
Good article on the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/59643988

All very sensible stuff.

There are two things that I think more or less everyone is in agreement with (there are of course always a few with daft / blinkered views...):

1. Verstappen, over the course of the season, is a worthy champion. He has been fast, consistent and determined (shame he undermined himself a bit with his style at Saudi Arabia, but it shouldn't distract from just how good he has been). His winning was no fluke, he'll be at the top end for more or less as long as he wants if Red Bull can provide a suitable car; and

2. Masi completely ballsed it up and this has been embarrassing for F1. I don't personally know anyone, Verstappen fans included, that don't think this was a balls up, even though they might think that Verstappen deserved the title overall and be ecstatic that he won.

In the comments section to various articles, Verstappen (or anti-Hamilton) supporters that state that Mercedes objections is just them being 'salty' or whatever the phrase might be, I can only attribute that to insecurity. If it were the other way round, I could accept that Hamilton was a worthy winner and be chuffed for him, while still being displeased with the decision making that got to that result. For me, the two points of who is the most deserving World Champ and what Masi should have done on Sunday can be treated distinctly as, despite what the media might have liked us to believe in the run up to the Abu Dhabi grand prix and even more so going into the last lap, the Champion is decided over the course of the entire season. F1 seemed to buy into that hype too much and buckled under the pressure.

I hope Hamilton shows them all who is boss next season.
 
My annoyance is with the sour taste left with the ending to what should have been a great season. Even if it had ended behind the safety car. That would have been forgotten in time and everyone would remember one of the best seasons. Even the decisions in Brazil and particularly Qatar would have been forgotten. Even the farce at Spa could have been consigned to history and forgotten about.

Now, Max’s first world championship will be viewed very much like some of Schumachers. Yes his name is on the trophy, but is very much tainted. Max may not be bothered about that now, but I suspect at some point it will become there at the back of his mind. And he will be asked about it quite a bit next season.
 
My annoyance is with the sour taste left with the ending to what should have been a great season. Even if it had ended behind the safety car. That would have been forgotten in time and everyone would remember one of the best seasons. Even the decisions in Brazil and particularly Qatar would have been forgotten. Even the farce at Spa could have been consigned to history and forgotten about.

Now, Max’s first world championship will be viewed very much like some of Schumachers. Yes his name is on the trophy, but is very much tainted. Max may not be bothered about that now, but I suspect at some point it will become there at the back of his mind. And he will be asked about it quite a bit next season.

I couldn't agree with you more, although I think you underestimate the amount of whinging that Verstappen fans would be doing now. Not about Sunday's race, but about Silverstone / Monza / Hungary!

There would be some serious crying going on right now.
 
267620110_10227936942152716_7041974223296704156_n.jpg


:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
Interesting, thank you.

Was there an opportunity for Masi to let the unlapped cars go a lap earlier than he did?

Suggestion was that they couldn't earlier due to marshals on the track, and in the audio there is some discussion as to whether it even got properly cleared up before they restarted. I think the comments on those are really telling as to how many people had their race compromised. Max pretty much the only one who didn't and in fact got a significant benefit.
 
I think Hamilton has got some decisions to make before next season. I can't see Verstappen changing how he drives so Hamilton has to decide if he is going to continue with his current strategy of getting out of the way when MV lunges up the inside and runs him wide/off the track, or if he's going to turn in and accept the inevitable collision. If he continues to get out of the way then I think the title next year will go to MV again. If LH decides that he's not going to get out of the way then there could be several collisions between the two and the stewards are going to be busy. If LH does go down this route it might even be worth a small wager on the number two drivers from each team to win the title if LH and MV are going to be taking each other out for several weeks.
 
I think Hamilton has got some decisions to make before next season. I can't see Verstappen changing how he drives so Hamilton has to decide if he is going to continue with his current strategy of getting out of the way when MV lunges up the inside and runs him wide/off the track, or if he's going to turn in and accept the inevitable collision. If he continues to get out of the way then I think the title next year will go to MV again. If LH decides that he's not going to get out of the way then there could be several collisions between the two and the stewards are going to be busy. If LH does go down this route it might even be worth a small wager on the number two drivers from each team to win the title if LH and MV are going to be taking each other out for several weeks.

Depends how close the teams are. If there are 3 or 4 close teams. Max will find himself colliding with the other young guns and Lewis will clean up by staying out of it.
George certainly wouldn’t have jumped out of Max’s way like Bottas did a few times this year.
 
I am not a big fan but watch the highlights.
What I don’t understand is
It took LH time and effort to get past the lapped cars between him and MV.
So just because a safety car was out why did they just let them through taking his well earned lead away.
Surely Red Bulls strategy was wrong to be that far back.
Not Mercedes as they had the lead with theirs.
 
My annoyance is with the sour taste left with the ending to what should have been a great season. Even if it had ended behind the safety car. That would have been forgotten in time and everyone would remember one of the best seasons. Even the decisions in Brazil and particularly Qatar would have been forgotten. Even the farce at Spa could have been consigned to history and forgotten about.

Now, Max’s first world championship will be viewed very much like some of Schumachers. Yes his name is on the trophy, but is very much tainted. Max may not be bothered about that now, but I suspect at some point it will become there at the back of his mind. And he will be asked about it quite a bit next season.
True. He will desperately want to win another. Otherwise there will be many who constantly remind him about the time Masi's decision won him his only Championship.
I think Hamilton has got some decisions to make before next season. I can't see Verstappen changing how he drives so Hamilton has to decide if he is going to continue with his current strategy of getting out of the way when MV lunges up the inside and runs him wide/off the track, or if he's going to turn in and accept the inevitable collision. If he continues to get out of the way then I think the title next year will go to MV again. If LH decides that he's not going to get out of the way then there could be several collisions between the two and the stewards are going to be busy. If LH does go down this route it might even be worth a small wager on the number two drivers from each team to win the title if LH and MV are going to be taking each other out for several weeks.
I would like to think the FIA will take a long hard look at how they deal with the uncertainty in these sorts of incidents. There is potential they'll come down much stronger on the sort of moves Max makes (or any driver doing the same). It is difficult to see Masi being there, but if he is I can imagine there will be some very intense discussions off season.

I don't think Lewis needs to change his style at all. He was effectively World Champion until Masi made his decision. If he was to become more aggressive, it could easily be him getting crashed out of races and getting zero points. I think he'd be better to survive, and hope the stewards wake up if the move on him was too aggressive.
 
I think Hamilton has got some decisions to make before next season. I can't see Verstappen changing how he drives so Hamilton has to decide if he is going to continue with his current strategy of getting out of the way when MV lunges up the inside and runs him wide/off the track, or if he's going to turn in and accept the inevitable collision. If he continues to get out of the way then I think the title next year will go to MV again. If LH decides that he's not going to get out of the way then there could be several collisions between the two and the stewards are going to be busy. If LH does go down this route it might even be worth a small wager on the number two drivers from each team to win the title if LH and MV are going to be taking each other out for several weeks.

I would be surprised if Max is even racing Lewis next year. RB have thrown a big chunk of their budget on continuing to develop this years car, as they knew it was their best chance of winning something. Merc have been busy working on next years, and didn't really invest much in this years, as did Ferrari and Mclaren. Personally I think (and hope) those 3 will be fighting it out, don't ask me to predict which driver though!:ROFLMAO:
 
I would be surprised if Max is even racing Lewis next year. RB have thrown a big chunk of their budget on continuing to develop this years car, as they knew it was their best chance of winning something. Merc have been busy working on next years, and didn't really invest much in this years, as did Ferrari and Mclaren. Personally I think (and hope) those 3 will be fighting it out, don't ask me to predict which driver though!:ROFLMAO:

It’s so hard to know, isn’t it? Got to be a fair chance one team just finds something that works much better than the others in the initial part of the season, hasn’t there? Or will the new regs mean fewer differences between cars?
 
I would be surprised if Max is even racing Lewis next year. RB have thrown a big chunk of their budget on continuing to develop this years car, as they knew it was their best chance of winning something. Merc have been busy working on next years, and didn't really invest much in this years, as did Ferrari and Mclaren. Personally I think (and hope) those 3 will be fighting it out, don't ask me to predict which driver though!:ROFLMAO:
A few predictions that Aston might fancy their chances early in the season. I would like to see vettel competitive against Max, if he has a chance I think he’d def run him off the road a few times.
George will certainly be more competitive than bottas and might get his elbows out also, that will be a fun one to watch, he’s certainly no shrinking violet.

As for Lewis this year, he got out of the way because he had to for much of it. He couldn’t risk the DNF whereas Max could. But I think we will continue to see a less combative style from Lewis in the future, he’s still the best over 50/60 laps in the world and I suspect he knows that and will continue to rely on his ability to win races around the pit-stops.
 
I'd bet those rules get modified (for clarification of course) for next year!
On the piece you posted it states that the cars were let through to let the “leaders“ race. That was the justification behind making that decision. Now if memory serves me right. The podium has three places for the first three. Yet the cars between 2nd and third were not allowed to overtake or unload themselves. The argument looks weaker by the day.
 
Top