It’s done Lady Luck blessed the Red Bull team, sport throws up crazy situations now and then. Wanted Lewis to win but no one has died, it’s just cars going around in circles. On to next season.
Ultimately it’s up to the race director though,
Only on grounds of safety. Not to decide on if there should be a spectacle.
So what happened there was the slower car won because the race director didn't follow procedure. In all fairness if Hamilton had won it would have felt a little hollow as he should have given the place back on the first lap anyway.
Very disappointing all round, my impression is that Masi buckled under pressure and made a rash decision. It wouldn't bother if he was replaced tbh.
Not a Hamilton fan, but liking him more today than last week.
He did everything that could be expected of him as a driver and when fate conspired against him came out of it graciously. Hats.
Max? Well I am glad to see someone finally taking one of the championships off Mercedes. If it had to be him, so be it.
Pity Mercedes still got the main championship. A boring era in championship terms.
I always liked (and I think I’m the only one) Vettel, and he’s looking like he’s got his head together again. Be interesting if he gets a decent car.
Alonso also hasn’t lost the ability to drive.
And there are a few decent less experienced drivers too.
Now we just need evenly matched cars that can follow and overtake.
Not going to happen is it?
Lewis needed a teammate to back him today, then either of the tyre change opportunities would have been different.
As for appeals, I think there’s zero chance of the result being changed because the race officials failed.
I’m think if even max had done a demolition derby there was only slim chance that the stewards/courts would have changed the championship outcome. To be clear, he did not. That’s not what I’m saying. *if…*
To think that they’ll change the result now is naive.
I think the last few laps were a farce, but that it’ll stay how it is
Only on grounds of safety. Not to decide on if there should be a spectacle.
Exactly. His priorty should be safety and safety only. This has made the sport feel cheap and I'm asking myself whether it's worth ny time watching it
I’m sure Merc will take the attitude that they take internally: assess what’s happened, identify what’s wrong, get it fixed, and move on. They won’t want to be remembered as the one team who won a championship in a court room, let alone to be the one who tried to do so and failed.
At the end of the day Max and Lewis both deserved the title, so there’s no injustice that it’s gone to the wrong person. At every point this season things have been balanced on a knife-edge of luck. It’s just unfortunate that there has needed to be a lot of difficult back room decisions all year long, many of which never really could have had a good outcome either way.
The one take-away for me is that it’s pretty inexcusable if processes are defined up front and then not followed on a whim, so if that’s what happened then the race directing and stewarding roles need looking at.
It’s hard to argue with the desire to go racing, or to create a spectacle. It’s entertainment in the end.
At the cost of shafting the driver that had dominanted the race and coating him the championship because someone else binned it into a wall
I don't think it was a good or (legally?) correct decision. Just making the point they wanted to create a race rather than end under a safety car.
I don’t think Mercedes should bother protesting it though, and I’m not sure they will, beyond pointing out how much Masi cocked it up. If that race had finished under the SC nobody would have thought it an injustice.
Just heard protests are being lodged. I agree with above - I think you'd get a lot more kudos from pointing out the inaccuracy and then shrugging and walking away. Show class above all.
Why does F1 bring out so much of this kind of attitude?
Hahahahabahha Lewis the loser
I see it quite a lot, everyone seems to have a driver that they hate.
Well, for a couple of guys I know, I'm not sure it isn't a different kind of race thing.
I'm not a huge F1 fan, and Hamilton has been a bit of a dick at times, but comparing his reaction this week to Verstappens last week, he's managed to keep it classy and I hope that Mercedes decide to take it on the chin and leave Red Bull and Max as being the controversial winners rather trying to have it overturned so Lewis can be the controversial winner.
Well I am glad Merc are protesting the result.
I imagine the only decision which the FIA will review is the one to allow the TV audience to hear conversations between the RD and team principals.
'Lapped cars will not pass'
'Michael, we only need one racing lap, please....'
'Lapped cars will pass, but only those ones'
Just sounds terrible.
Team principals shouldn't have ready access to the RD to whine and moan, anyway.
As Merc found out with their rear wing. Regs are regs and if you breach them. And their decision not to pit Lewis and to have been influenced by those regs. Hmm - not clear cut at all
They won’t want to be remembered as the one team who won a championship in a court room, let alone to be the one who tried to do so and failed.
I agree with this. How seeking an official explanation of what happened and a clarification of the rules might be appropriate though, plus an apology if Michael Messy recognises that he didn't make the best decision
Race result will be annulled on Merc appeal as the FIA race rules have been breached by the Race Director.
Get ready for a 5 lap Super-Sprint re-run race back to the order of the VSC to decide the title... Seems like par for the course for Liberty Media WWF1...!
Well I am glad Merc are protesting the result
+1 there's no point having a rule book if it's not applied. Hopefully this will at least trigger a proper review of the sporting regs to remove ambiguity.
Understand Mercedes have lodged an appeal, so now the FIA are right in it.... How do they sort this mess out?
Race result will be annulled on Merc appeal as the FIA race rules have been breached by the Race Director.
Max is champ on race wins!
Get ready for a 5 lap Super-Sprint re-run race back to the order of the VSC to decide the title… Seems like par for the course for Liberty Media WWF1…
How about real life Mariokart with oil slicks and banana skins and stuff? That’d be ace! 😃
Max won the race because the rules were not correctly applied.
So once the last lapped car has passed the leader, the safety car comes in an the end of the next lap, they didn’t do that either did they?
No.
Not enough time to do all that, allow the lapped cars to get through and out of the way and then for one more lap.
Thus contravening the regs.
I will agree that Nico Rosberg makes a good point. If Mercedes are making decisions during the race under the understanding that a certain set of regs are going to be applied, then they can feel aggrieved. However, RB were the ones taking the fight to Mercedes today, changing tyres and gambling and pushing hard right to the end. Ultimately they should be racing, and that's what happened.
I doubt the FIA will find against their own race director if it goes to court. Is there much point to any protest under these circumstances?
Not watched F1 for a while. Thought I would watch this one. What a crock of shit. Barely sport if this sort thing is how races are decided.
Won't bother again.
Team principals shouldn’t have ready access to the RD to whine and moan, anyway.
This. Under no circumstances should Team Principals be able to talk to the Race Director during the event. The whinging and moaning from both teams (more RB but also Merc) to Massi have been cringeworthy and have really cheapened the sport. Smacks of trying to influence the judges.
In cycling, Radio Tour (from the Commissaire to the team cars following) is a listen-only facility designed for things like "Rider 14, mechanical service please" and the team car will come up to assist. Race Radio needs to be the same.
Mercedes have lodged 2 protests. Good luck with that! If they win via protest then the sport will look even worse, whether it's the right thing to do or not
Make them race on vehicles appropriate to the national stereotype.
Max on a canal boat, or a shopping bike. Lewis in an Austin Allegro.
Clearly Lewis will be quicker, but probably won't make it round 56 laps
LOL @Binners! F1 is certainly edging closer to random banana skins and oil slick hazards being applied! 😀
However, RB were the ones taking the fight to Mercedes today, changing tyres and gambling and pushing hard right to the end.
LOL. Hamilton was comfortably in the lead and Max couldn't get near him with new tyres.
Nico Rosberg makes a good point.
First time I’ve seen Nico as a pundit, and he seemed to be hopping on and off the fence every time someone else said something. Button seems to talk decent sense.
If Max was going to win the championship I was prepared for considering similar to Rosberg's oft-caveated win 'he only won it because of Hamilton's mechanicals', in that Max has won it only because he drives people off the track & gets away with it & the stewards/director have let him away with stuff they shouldn't have, but the end of today's race was just a joke.
Mercedes have lodged 2 protests.
Cast iron guarantee that RB would have done the same if the tables were turned. Its turning the sport into a farce. Appeals on every other corner at this rate with all the what-ifs that come from that.
Max was pretty aggressive behind the safety car, and put his nose ahead at least once. I thought you had to stay behind the lead car, in a long line?
Anyway, this was all cock. A right old mess. Don't care who won now, as that ending was just awful. Very disappointing end to a nutty season.
I agree it’s farcical, but that’s the FIA’s fault for all the dithering and indecision.
Cast iron guarantee that RB would have done the same if the tables were turned. Its turning the sport into a farce. Appeals on every other corner at this rate with all the what-ifs that come from that.
It is a farce. So let's get it all into the open. It doesn't deserve any respect...... not talking about the drivers btw.
It is a farce. So let’s get it all into the open
100%
changing tyres and gambling
It wasn’t really gambling: pretty much all their calls were no-brainers as they had good gaps as well as knowing exactly what Mercedes were doing with Hamilton. Strategy-wise RB had a pretty straightforward day of it. All but the first of Mercedes’ calls were necessarily gambles: keep track position and go deeper into deg, or lose track position and have to pass Max on track.
Do us folk who correctly predicted today’s race result as as court battle win anything?
Do us folk who correctly predicted today’s race result as as court battle win anything?
The only real winner here is whoever Jos would have punched if Max hadn’t won.
Can Michael Massi get a penalty for bringing the sport into disrepute? It's no longer a reputable sport anyway, that's for sure.
However, RB were the ones taking the fight to Mercedes today, changing tyres and gambling and pushing hard right to the end.
I disagree - they were simply playing all the cards they had in the hope one would fall for them. As it turns out it did - I think it was a Red 14 of Spades
I'd be pointing the finger at Derek Warwick and his crew for setting up the precedent at the first turn. It wasnt just Massi that was inconsistent , see the stewards and giving back an advantage. I suppose Lewis/ Max can share the feeling of winning the championship on the last lap. Been a marathon of a season with nether principles fairing well. I feel for Susie as I imagine Toto will be like a bear with a sore head reading the regs all night with the lawyers.
2021 FORMULA ONE SPORTING REGULATIONS
39.12 If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message "LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE" has been sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system, any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.
This will only apply to cars that were lapped at the time they crossed the Line at the end of the lap during which they crossed the first Safety Car line for the second time after the safety car was deployed.
Having overtaken the cars on the lead lap and the safety car these cars should then proceed around the track at an appropriate speed, without overtaking, and make every effort to take up position at the back of the line of cars behind the safety car. Whilst they are overtaking, and in order to ensure this may be carried out safely, the cars on the lead lap must always stay on the racing line unless deviating from it is unavoidable. Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.
If the clerk of the course considers track conditions are unsuitable for overtaking the message "OVERTAKING WILL NOT BE PERMITTED" will be sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system.
any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass
Is that all cars? Some cars? Cars allowed to pass at the Race Director's discretion?
I think it was a Red 14 of Spades
You mean joker? 'Won' on a safety car. What do I win for my prediction?
Max was pretty aggressive behind the safety car, and put his nose ahead at least once. I thought you had to stay behind the lead car, in a long line?
I understand that one of Merc's two protests is about overtaking behind the safety car.
no overtaking under the safety car......
"It was marginal and he didn't get an advantage"
"But it says no overtaking"
etc......
