F1 2021 Season

In hindsight if they wanted a race at the end it should have been red flagged to allow 4 or 5 laps of racing with both Hamilton and Verstappen on softs. That would have been more exciting than a fight between new softs and old hards, plus would have been best driver wins.
 
Yeah, they've only won 15 of the last 16 driver and constructors championships over the last 8 seasons. Now they've lost one it's clearly rigged against them and they have to SuperLeague it.
Either they unlap or they don't

Not enough u lap to give an unfair advantage


If I was merc I'd go nuclear and withdraw from next year... withdraw my engines and go 100% Into formula e and transfer Hamilton and Russel there



If the fia don't stick to the rules then feck contracts

Let max be the last f1 champion but blow f1 the fek up
 
They’ve learnt the lesson that they can contrive it completely for maximum spectacle.

They won’t change it to make things fairer.

Liberty will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Exactly what I was saying about racing in the states. Last lap and corner so frequently. Eventually its so boring because the previous 99% of the race was irrelevant.
 
God I can't wait to hear from Toto, I suspect he won't say anything as he will have calmed down.
 
Andrew Benson on BBC saying:

Article 39.12 of sporting regs says: "If clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message "LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE" has been sent to all teams, any cars that have been lapped by leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car."

In this case, only Norris, Alonso, Ocon, Leclerc and Vettel were allowed to overtake it - they were the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen. Ricciardo, Stroll and Schumacher were not.

In other words, the sporting regulations do not cover this specific situation.


Had Hamilton not lapped Ricciardo, Stroll etc? He must have done...
 
Would have been a shame if that puncture in Azerbaijan was the difference in Max winning the title or not. He deserved it this year and he'll have many more in years to come I have no doubt

You still have to feel for Hamilton, he must have sick when he seen the safety car come out.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Russell and Hamilton compare to each other next year

that was a car/tyre issue. Shit happens. Spa was the deciding factor in the end.Massively disappointed
 
How can you not like the season though? Brilliant drama and two superbly talented and driven men going at it and decided by the last lap. What's not to like.

Both had their luck and rules go their way. If you dont see it that way, it's sad.

What's not to like is the rules being made up. It's basically like when Chelsea beat us to the title thanks to an offside goal, and someone saying "yeah but the season was great and it made for great drama so you should like it".
 
State of some of the folk here. I always fancied myself as a Hamilton fan until the last year or so of this thread. Bring back Santi.

I was a big Hamilton fan when he was against Alonso and Rosberg and Vettel but I think if I'd read this thread during those eras I wouldn't have been.
 
BBC

Article 39.12 of sporting regs says: "If clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message "LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE" has been sent to all teams, any cars that have been lapped by leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car."

In this case, only Norris, Alonso, Ocon, Leclerc and Vettel were allowed to overtake it - they were the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen. Ricciardo, Stroll and Schumacher were not."
 
I'm not denying that decision today, it was horrendous.

But a championship IS NOT one race is it.

I'll repeat again, I'm saying this as a Lewis fan. It is an absolute load of rubbish and the race really should have ended under the safety car, but the winner (Max/Lewis) fully deserves the championship.
Does winning unfairly not make a difference to what you deserve then?

I totally get what you mean, I'll repeat myself. IF Hamilton won fair and square, he deserves it. Same for Verstappen, yes? But it wasn't fair and square today?

Winning UNFAIRLY takes away some of the merit, for me.
 
Does winning unfairly not make a difference to what you deserve then?

I totally get what you mean, I'll repeat myself. IF Hamilton won fair and square, he deserves it. Same for Verstappen, yes? But it wasn't fair and square today?

Winning UNFAIRLY takes away some of the merit, for me.
That's not Max's fault though is it? He's just the driver and at the end of the day, he overtook Hamilton cleanly (never thought I'd say that).
 
Andrew Benson on BBC saying:

Article 39.12 of sporting regs says: "If clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message "LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE" has been sent to all teams, any cars that have been lapped by leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car."

In this case, only Norris, Alonso, Ocon, Leclerc and Vettel were allowed to overtake it - they were the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen. Ricciardo, Stroll and Schumacher were not.

In other words, the sporting regulations do not cover this specific situation.


Had Hamilton not lapped Ricciardo, Stroll etc? He must have done...
Race standings say +1 Lap so he must have done
 
BBC

Article 39.12 of sporting regs says: "If clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message "LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE" has been sent to all teams, any cars that have been lapped by leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car."

In this case, only Norris, Alonso, Ocon, Leclerc and Vettel were allowed to overtake it - they were the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen. Ricciardo, Stroll and Schumacher were not."

I didn't understand that either. He's contradicting his own argument.
 
In hindsight if they wanted a race at the end it should have been red flagged to allow 4 or 5 laps of racing with both Hamilton and Verstappen on softs. That would have been more exciting than a fight between new softs and old hards, plus would have been best driver wins.

yep. that’s the ending the season deserved. what we got was a punch in the gut and then pissed on as we laid on the floor clutching our stomachs.
 
Literally the opposite of great for the sport. It will turn off a lot of potential followers if they think a championship is decided by race directors like that.
Versus the same champ for a decade?(hypetbole) . Sure.
Getting more traction online than ever before so the sport will certainly grow viewers from it.
Yeah they will. Good for the sport. No such thing as bad PR
New champion is great for the sport I agree; just not the way it was won.
There was an inconsistent call at the start. I doubt they overturn this. I’m not a huge F1 fan but yeah.
Disagree, sham for long standing fans and just pandering to new fans in it for a bit of quick drama
Sport or media depends on viewers. Long standing fans seemed like they needed more.
Not really, it’s turned a sport into an entertainment show. It’s like ducking with the rules in injury time during the UCL Final.
Agree. T20 cricket. Etc. It’s all headed to the “quick consumer”.
 
I think you overestimate the importance of this thread. :lol:

On a serious note though, how do they restore the integrity of the sport after this?

With the wave of new fans they getting because of this "entertainment" I'm not sure they want to. At least not enough to change anything that happened today.
New regs coming in next season though, that will be interesting.
 
I was a big Hamilton fan when he was against Alonso and Rosberg and Vettel but I think if I'd read this thread during those eras I wouldn't have been.
Why do other fans influence who you support? I'm surprised you're a United fan then.
 
That's not Max's fault though is it? He's just the driver and at the end of the day, he overtook Hamilton cleanly (never thought I'd say that).
I've not said it is Max's fault?
He took Hamilton cleanly because the rules weren't followed. The only reason.

I think we can agree that today's race was not fair, based on the fact rules were broken.

Just answer my question now.

Based on the fact rules were broken (not a bit of luck, not a bit of excellent driving) that absolutely favoured Max at the most crucial time of the season, does that take away any of the merit?
 
Toys out the pram then.

Maybe Merc should make a championship with only Merc cars Merc engines and Merc sponsored drivers. Then they can never lose.
Perhaps... or maybe they should expect rules are enforced and if not use their full commercial power to react.. lawsuit withdrawing from next year abs taking engines away as well
 
I didn't understand that either. He's contradicting his own argument.
Well a poster claimed earlier it wasn’t communicated to all teams so the rules weren’t broken.
I could guess the majority of F1 fans would have voted against VAR if this is their usual Sunday.
 
Versus the same champ for a decade?(hypetbole) . Sure.

Yeah they will. Good for the sport. No such thing as bad PR

There was an inconsistent call at the start. I doubt they overturn this. I’m not a huge F1 fan but yeah.

Sport or media depends on viewers. Long standing fans seemed like they needed more.

Agree. T20 cricket. Etc. It’s all headed to the “quick consumer”.
Now you're just being deliberately facetious so no real point debating.
 
Great great point by Rosberg that Mercedes were making their decisions based on the rules and so changing the rules is messed up in that way as well
 
2 big decisions by masi that has effected the championship

max not getting a tougher sanction for saudi

not following their own rule book just to make it a spectacle
 
Why do other fans influence who you support? I'm surprised you're a United fan then.

I don't. But I don't support an individual driver anyway. The best period of F1 for me was 2006-2010 when there was a different winner every season.
 
Ending in a SC when Lewis totally dominated the race and had the right tire strategy? Races ending in a SC is racing. That is part of it and the integrity of F1.
Mh, yeah, poor turn of phrase from me. It's just, Max was chasing Lewis, it was unlikely but you never know. To see that taken away, in a race like this, in a season like this, i dunno, it would have felt wrong somehow

Completely undoing the laws of the sport and rewriting it on the last lap of the season to determine a winner is not racing and there's zero integrity.
Yep, 100%
 
How can you not like the season though? Brilliant drama and two superbly talented and driven men going at it and decided by the last lap. What's not to like.

Both had their luck and rules go their way. If you dont see it that way, it's sad.
Regardless which driver won. I hate to see F1 turn into a farce. Its about the integrity of the sport. That's the sad thing.

If you like WWE you will like F1 under the rule of Masi.
 
Getting more traction online than ever before so the sport will certainly grow viewers from it.

It's still way down on what it was back in the 90s and early 2000s though.

I've watched every F1 race since '93, but the sport just doesn't occupy the same place in the public consciousness that it once did.