Formula 1 Round 22 Abu Dhabi GP

Can’t help but feel that Mercedes have pace to spare and Verstappen will need to be lucky and good on Sunday. but I have a feeling something special could happen(disclaimer: I also generally have this feeling a couple of days before watching Ireland play anyone in football!)

Thought I wouldn’t get to watch it as I booked a weekend away in Munich with the missus for Christmas markets, but Christmas markets are closed so we’ll be in the pub for lights out. Can’t wait!

Does Mondello have a bar on site?

You've done well there. You get the brownie points for being willing to go the the christmas markets in Munich and you get to watch the race. Score.

Ah, Mrs McFly85, I so wish the markets were open. But while were here let's go for a pint and a schnitzel in this sports bar...

Ye you would think they would alright. Could have been a great moneyspiner for them.

Sainz is going to be told to go for it

I have that same feeling

You know there is both rallycross and a car show in Mondello on Sunday? I doubt sticking the F1 up on a TV somewhere will be high up on their agenda!

I’d prefer to see max win tomorrow so that he can get his first world championship but what I want isn’t how it works. I just hope it’s not a cluster like the Saudi race and given that the world championship is on the line I doubt it will be, because I want it won on the track whether that’s Lewis winning no 8 or max winning no1.

really hope theres no crash, it would be a truly astonishing race if there wasnt

Sickening to see that Hamilton's car with so much speed. Christian Horner joked yesterday that they removed all the corners that Mercedes didn't like when making the track changes for this year.

Hamilton will win it wont he ...... :(

ABH

GO MAX !

Hamilton's tardy exit from the pits forcing Mazepin to abort a fast lap. Highly peculiar behaviour to expose himself unnecessarily like that.

Ah, so he's not trying to drive the car before qualifying and them possibly changing the rear wing is a decoy, gotcha.

Ban said driver from competing in F1 in 2022. If that happened they'd never drive in Formula1 ever again.

That won't happen a driver may take it on himself to take out an opponent to win but why would a team mate do that for the benefit of a competitor? What would they gain ? F1 has a small pool of drivers if you loose your integrity getting another job would be very difficult. F1 is a small world.

Yeah but they still try and set representative times, you would imagine they have their long runs etc done by now and at this point they are looking at individual laps because that's what is next, hence cooldowns and tyre changes. Conditions are the same for everyone during these sessions.

A pace advantage is a pace advantage, we know the Merc has one. He was 1.5 ahead at the time.

What did the FIA do when Hamilton took out Verstappen at Silverstone???

And how far ahead was he at the end??

As I said reading into practice times, especially in the middle of sessions when drivers are obviously on different strategies and tyres (as they were when you made the comment about the race basically being a foregone conclusion) means absolutely nothing.

Of all the races AD is the hardest to call from practice times, seeing as only FP2 takes place with the same track characteristics as qualy and the race.

Yep, team ban sounds about right(or even massive points deduction). The FIA should be stressing that they want this tournament won on the track.

However, they should be stressing that every race is won on track. The dumpster fire that has been F1 discourse this season hasn't been helped by the fact that drivers causing DNFs haven't really been punished or have benefitted from them. You should never be able to benefit from causing a DNF. I think these incidents can be cut out with points deductions on par with the position of the driver you have been judged by the stewards to have caused to DNF(cause DNF of 1st place car, maximum penalty of 25 points so guaranteed to finish on zero, DNF to second maximum penalty of 18 points etc, DNF to 11-20 grid penalty for the next race).

It would stop this but Silverstone but Monza but Hungary etc as mostly drivers will have earned their points by racing.

He was 0.2 behind at the end when Hamilton backed out three times and had a flat spot. That Merc can go faster. The RB is on its limit.

By extension and your logic, Max has taken out Hamilton at Monza and would do again if he had more race wins.

Have a feeling this is going to be very anti-climatic and Hamilton will win.

Was the Hamilton and Mazepin incident from FP3 investigated at all?