After watching F1 for more than 55 years both trackside and TV, along with all forms of Motorcycle racing (my real passion), I have seen a fair few controversies over those years, what did puzzle me was there were lapped cars between the title rivals going into the final two laps, but in a break from normal convention where all cars unlap themselves, only those between Hamilton and Verstappen did, allowing a wheel-to-wheel race to the finish.why not let all those unlapped cars proceed, the reason given was to do so would not allow 1 full lap of "racing", from the rule book the decision seems to contravene 1 of those. Remember there were five cars between first-place Hamilton and second place Verstappen, though all of those cars were behind the two race leaders in overall time. Race official (Michael Massi) initially decided those lapped cars could not overtake the safety car, then in a surprising twist, officials then told the lapped cars they could pass the safety car, putting Verstappen directly behind his rival for a one-lap dash to the finish. There was some consolation for Mercedes-Benz, winning the F1 constructor’s title for the eighth year in a row. It reminded me of the Alain Prost/Ayrton Senna battle of the late 1980s. All this said I fear the precedent has now been set by the officials, they have backed themselves into a corner and will now have to demonstrate future consistency race by race. The creditability of the sport has been brought into question this weekend and I think a lot of people will have serious questions about what has happened.
What happened at the end was Max won and Hamilton lost, period. Forget the rattle throwing by the Mercedes team, first past the flag is what counts. Congrats to Max V!
My partner did max’s mri scan after the Silverstone accident. It was only max and jos there (9:30 pm ish) and she said that they were both extremely polite and genuinely apologetic as she got called out to attend. I however, was annoyed as I’d bought a takeout and it was bloody cold when she got home. Max, (if you are reading this!) you owe me/us a takeout (Chinese, Ken sing £27)
I had a thought for you Wim, reminding you talking about watching a race on a tablet during your Alps tour.
F1 had become processional over the last decade or so, perhaps longer than that. 6 of Hamilton's 7 titles and Vettel's 4 are testament to that. Whether its Hamilton vs Verstappen or Senna vs Prost or going even further back, Hunt vs Lauda, what F1 needs IMO is close competition between rivals throughout the season. The 2021 F1 season has given us just that and whatever the outcome yesterday, I think we'd all agree we'd like to see more of the same head to head battling. When a driver can start in the pit lane or at the rear of the grid and come through the field to win or get in the top 3, then great driving skills must be present, but having a far superior car to the rest of the participants just makes me want to yawn and switch off. Roll on the 2022 season and well done to young Max. A worthy champion.
I was really into F1 back in the 70's-80's with the likes of Nelson Piquet, Gilles Villeneuve, Rene Arnoux, Alan Jones etc..etc.. and still have many races I recorded on VHS, in the pre-electronic driver aids era when the cars had 3 pedals and a stick shift. They should bring that spec back and scrap all the computer controlled push button crap, then we'll see who can drive. JMO
Too many rules and regulations, should just get on and race flag to flag, I'm not a Lewis fan but if that crash didn't happen on lap 53 he'd have won surely.
I’m not much of a Lewis fan to be honest but it has been an exciting season for sure. A great shame it had to end wirh such controversy. 1. Lewis was forced off in the first lap for sure but Max made the pass on him and Lewis should have been made to give the place back in my view 2. The safety car debacle was a total fiasco. Either race control allow all of the lapped cars to unload themselves or none of them, not just those between Max and Lewis - they broke their own rules specifically in order to get a final lap of racing but it totally prejudiced Mercedes who stayed out and didn’t change tyres, knowing what the rules were but, race control flouted them. Mercedes are taking legal advice and appealing the decision - I’m not surprised. Both drivers deserved the championship, just a shame that it was influenced by outside meddling. It would be a real shame if it is now taken away from Max but I wouldn’t be too surprised. I bet there’s a lot of behind the scenes haggling going on and a great deal of money changing hands about now!!!!
So is this why so many of you are really ok with this “win”. We all know who the better driver is, and will continue to be in this era. Vers shouldn’t even except such a worthless win. Probably wouldn’t if it wasn’t connected to Red Bull and so much money.
If the situation had been reversed with Verstappen in front and seriously disadvantaged the race would have either finished under the safety car or the lapped runners would have not been sent through. It's obvious the FIA wanted Verstappen to be champion, they have shown themselves to be totally corrupt. Verstappen didn't "win" the championship, he was out performed by a superior driver but was gifted the title by corruption. I wonder how big the bribe from Red Bull was ??
Remember the green strip debacle re Rea/Toprak 2021, race direction found no case to answer initially, then Kawasaki lodged an appeal and hey ho they reversed the decision and Toprak was penalised, however Toprak was eventually crowned WSB Champion, it happens in all forms of motor sport and all to often unfortunately. Re the final F1 race this weekend, there is a large body of people within F1 and elsewhere calling for the resignation of Michael Massi, the whole stewards remit needs to be overhauled including the rule book, also any race team should not be allowed to enter into a conversation with race direction whilst racing is live, by allowing this it takes away the impartiality of the stewards and can lead to suspicion from rival teams.
Totally agree with you. Bike racing rules and regs seem far more sensible. Especially as the F1 rules seem to be flexible and can change during a race. And what about team bosses being able to try to influence the ref during the race? What's that all about? This F1 stuff obviously has vast amounts of money involved and maybe that sours it a bit. Yup, stick with the bikes.
What an odd race; sharp intake of breath on lap one, then, wandering around only checking in on the TV occasionally, to wha???. So, some weird moments in the race, but not for the first time this season. RE the championship, I don't care too much. I'm happy to see the Merc/ Ham run broken, if only because we need the break. I'm not really a fan of either of our two contenders: Max has, IMHO, pushed the boundaries of what I felt was 'gentlemanly, sportsmanlike driving' (though what do I know), and Lewis has had the best car, with unflinching support, for many years. I'd be happy to see Max create fewer 'move or we'll crash' situations, and for Lewis to admit that he has had the best car- and to praise the team for that. I'd say that all serial winners have had the best car. The exceptions are the most interesting and admirable. But as I said, it doesn't interest me too much who won the prize. They are both outstanding drivers. I've actually been more interested in the younger crowd of drivers; Lando, Pierre, Carlos, George, Charles, and even Lance, Nicolas and Mick. And Sergio of course. I'm more interested in seeing them and their races. More even, more interesting and less ego and entitlement. I'd love to see Lewis retire, and Seb and Valteri as well. Though to contradict myself, I'm enjoying Fernando's return. But I really miss the simplicity of the cars from say, the early 1990's. It was also more beautiful, to me, and I think F1 should be beautiful as well as exciting. That said, I also miss the stories from the periphery; Nigel when at Ferrari, going to Willams for decent tea, and Prost when at Williams going to Ferrari for decent coffee, and the big expose´ on the official pastry supplier to Benetton. That was quality racing coverage.
Why does Lewis Hamilton remind you of an 80's music track? Because he couldn't pass the dutchie on the left hand side! p.s. for those of a sensitive disposition, this is a joke... well sort of.
I'm not a Hamilton fan, but for me the race was a farce. As has been said a 12 or 13 second lead and the decisions made with the lapped cars make me think that the F1 management team had already made their minds up who was going to win the race. I won't be watching next season..... load of bollox
Stopped watching F1 years ago, and apart from what's shown on the news seen none this year, so apart from patriotic tendencies don't really care who won. Unfortunately I think technology and its associated rules has killed the sport for me, more worryingly I fear bike racing is going the same way, and having to race on the same tracks raises issues like the green paint debacle. One of the many reasons Casey Stoner retired was because of the move towards electronics intervention, (Rossi also started to suffer once electronic aids were introduced). Even on public roads new cars are required to have increasing levels of electronic intervention - Lane Assist, AEB, etc. Autonomous driverless cars,........ we're almost there already.
