Formula 1 Round 22 Abu Dhabi GP

artanevilla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118318315#Comment_118318315

It's tainted in the same way Trump's 2nd term has been tainted by Biden winning the election.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118318323#Comment_118318323

He did right away. He said it's a motor race and he wanted to see cars race

jacool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118319619#Comment_118319619

If he wanted to see cars race then why not 3, or more, instead of just 2?

There were only 2 cars between Verstappen and Sainz. These cars weren't removed so Verstappen never had to look over his shoulder, as he should have had to do if "he wanted to see cars race". I'd say Masi will be gone now. He can go to UEFA and do their Champions League draws.

Funny how no one is mentioning the massive advantage RB had earlier in the season (not only them to be fair) with the illegal flexible rear wings. Even when these finally got called out, the teams got a few weeks to "fix" them. Mercedes had complained about these consistently until they were fixed.

namloc1980

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118319714#Comment_118319714

The Red Bull wing passed all the FIA tests so it wasn't illegal but Mercedes pushed their weight around to get the rules/tests changed mid-season. Funny that.

Spook_ie

Well this came up on my Google feed,

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/masi-f1-safety-car-hamilton-25687383

In that race, McLaren driver Lando Norris was left in a precarious position after a power unit issue prompted smoke and fire to come from his car, and Masi was later criticised for ordering a safety car and then allowing it to stay out for a prolonged period.

”There’s a requirement in the sporting regulations to wave all the lapped cars past,” he later told Motorsport Week.

So how come and why was it decided that not all cars should unlap in Abu Dhabi 2021?

2011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118319714#Comment_118319714

It is not "Funny how no one is mentioning the massive advantage RB had earlier in the season (not only them to be fair) with the illegal flexible rear wings", the thread is titled "Formula 1 Round 22 Abu Dhabi GP".

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118319714#Comment_118319714

Time

Hijpo

Time to unfollow.

It's going around in circles, when verstappen benefits from luck it's deemed that races and points are being handed to him, when he's on the opposite end of other driver errors it's his own fault but when Hamilton benefits its waved away and dismissed or its "but max got such and such in wherever".

Anyway, hurrah for Verstappen WDC 2021.

Oh, hope you all have a good Christmas.

circadian

Mercedes made a balls of the pit strategy, Hamilton should have just come in for softs, RB were clearly going to pit again.

Gamb!t

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118318386#Comment_118318386

Its incredible how he kept his emotions in check after being so close to winning the championship.

jacool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118319801#Comment_118319801

Fair point. The mention of Silverstone and Imola in the thread misled me. :(

This is it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118319964#Comment_118319964

RB would do the opposite to Mercedes. If Hamilton came in then Max would stay out for track position, it was luck that RB strategy worked with the SC but that's how it goes.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118319964#Comment_118319964

If Hamilton had pitted RB would not have. Maintaining track position and assuming that Masi would follow procudure was the smart call. RB took a chance the incident would be cleared quicker than it was, allowing racing to resume for the final lap. It wasn't cleared in time for process, but that didn't matter to Masi.

Hamilton arguable should have pitted under the VSC but if he had, Max would not have so Hamilton would have had to make up the distance and pass him.

As it was, Hamilton stayed out - had a more than comfortable lead with a few laps to go, the race should have ended under the SC as it turned out, and Hamilton would have been champion.

If Masi had followed correct procedure, Hamilton would be champion - so it was not the Pit call that cost him, it was Masi deciding not all cars need to be unlapped and that the saety car can come in immediately rather than the following lap is the regulations state.

And the race ending under Yellows/SC would be no more unfortunate for Max because without the SC in the first place he wasn't getting close to Hamilton in the last laps anyway.

SeeMoreBut

I think we all look forward to the first safety car next year when we have a few cars lapped. I expect they'll rewrite the rules before then but lets hope not and Masi is in charge and see what he decides to do.

tanko

What happened in the last lap on Sunday was just a “racing incident”, the same as what happened at Silverstone and other races were just racing incidents. Anything Masi did “wasn’t intentional” just the same as everything Hamilton and Wolff did weren’t intentional. Sure anyone who thinks any different is just a conspiracy theorist.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118320225#Comment_118320225

If the teams had agreed in advance to finish under a green flag if at all possible, then shouldn't Mercedes have expected that the safety car would be cleared and at least one lap of racing?

quokula

So does this make Lewis the only non-number 2 driver in history to have managed to lose the drivers championship on three separate occasions in cars that were scored the most constructors points?

Only on two of those occasions did his team win the WCC of course as McLaren were disqualified from 2007 for the corporate espionage that laid the foundations for the the 2008 championship.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118320225#Comment_118320225

Yep, track position trumps fresher tyres when you only need to hold it for one or two laps. Perez showed it’s doable, and should be even more doable with a Mercedes engine in your car.

I get the impression whichever way Mercedes went Verstappen was going to win, either by holding on with older tyres or overtaking with newer ones - he showed on lap 1 that he’s more than capable of out racing Lewis who had to resort to taking a shortcut.

citytillidie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118318859#Comment_118318859

Also them moaning about the red flag in the last race when they had to repair the crash barrier

blade1

This thread is like this 😂

https://youtu.be/uXATjvr_rl4

greenspurs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118321020#Comment_118321020

aka - a discussion... for & against , Merc Vs Red Bull , Max Vs Ham , Toto V Horner

joe35

Reminds me a bit of the Leinster final between Louth and Meath a few years back.

You can't throw the ball into the net yet that's what Joe Sheridan done. Referee allowed the goal end of.

Now Louth huffed and puffed out of them that they should of had a replay or been awarded the title.

What they should have been talking about is how in injury time, when they had possession of the ball, did they give Meath the chance.

They weren't good enough. Dublin or an Ulster team, a point up in injury time would have just kept possession.

Similar, Hamilton wasn't good enough. He wasn't good enough to stay ahead on the last lap END OF

chicorytip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118318501#Comment_118318501

His method of going for openings and then defending them is hardly sportsmanlike, to say the least. You can defend an advantageous position legitimately without deliberately forcing your opponent off track. He was trying to put Hamilton out of the race, no question, even if it meant ruining his own race in the process because Lewis had the faster car - all things being equal. Max would still be crowned champion if both had retired.

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118321330#Comment_118321330

Are you suggesting Perez is a better driver then Hamilton because he did something to Lewis earlier in the race that Lewis didn't do to Max on the last lap?

joe35

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118321392#Comment_118321392

I don't follow it much. What I'm saying is that Hamilton wasn't good enough.

On the day, in those circumstances, Hamilton wasn't good enough

ctrl-alt-delete

https://youtu.be/9rUZI2NUVDU

Not sure if this has already been posted.

The chassis default 77 command brought up a thank you message in Finnish on his wheel.

A nice touch.

Makes you wonder why they couldn't have a chassis default 44 message which would say let lewis pass in Finnish rather than have to radio him.

the_pen_turner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118321961#Comment_118321961

probaly far easier to put a perminent sticker on the dash.

Faugheen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118319964#Comment_118319964

It's amazing how many times this needs to be said. RB were only going to pit again if Mercedes didn't.

RB's strategy was to do the opposite to Mercedes. Mercedes had no guarantee that the race would definitely be restarted so if they pit, then Max would have stayed out and taken the lead.

It would have been a stupid decision to pit when they had no idea the race would definitely restart. You always maintain track position in that situation every single time.

Faugheen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118321419#Comment_118321419

Perez was able to get back past Hamilton with the help of DRS and Hamilton's colder, hard tyres.

Hamilton was on 30+ lap worn tyres, with no DRS, against Max's brand new soft tyres which are much easier to get up to temperature and with much better grip in the braking zones.

Two completely different scenerios. To say Hamilton 'wasn't good enough' is bollocks. He had a significant disadvantage but you can only say fair play to RB and Max for utilising it.

Dont be at yourself

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118322620#Comment_118322620

Mercedes made the right call for the safety car, but the wrong (or conservative) call to immediately cover Max during the first window, and also to not pit during the VSC. They had a clear pace advantage and a more durable tyre, but chose to pit early to preserve track position.

And it's not like a late safety car was out or the question -- the last race of a gruellling season with a lot of parts at end-of-life, and a fair few tyre failures this season.