F1 2021

[450grl]

I was SO frustrated for MAX watching that race! He was driving his ass off to stay ahead of Hamilton's faster car in the straights.....and he just kept getting screwed by the FIA every step of the way. I'm in awe of the fact that they determined MAX was at fault when Hamilton drove up his a$$. Hamilton is a 7 time world champ - you would think he would have some car control. I dislike him so much more every weekend I see him race......he is SUCH a drama queen. I hope Max just straight up beats him this weekend, but not only does he have to outdrive the Mercedes, but he has to out drive the penalties FIA will surely be looking to hand out again.

 

[450grl]

PS - Am I the only one that secretly hopes Bottas takes his teammate out "accidentally" as a final farewell gesture?

 

[Fifty]

Also odd how nobody questioned how Hamilton was faster with a broken wing and dead tires….
Even bottas mentioned something about their engine. But the Fia decided not to investigate when rb Ferrari and Renault filed a protest.

 

[bajaherbie]

The FIA is gonna give Max a 5 place grid penalty AND a 10 second penalty for NOT being British.

I have been rooting for Max all season but it doesn't look good for him


X2 on Bottas taking out Sir Lewis Whinesalot!

 

[JerryB]

A most crazy end to a crazy season. The FIA has made no sense "all season" in their application of the rules and penalties handed out. When you have former driving champions commentating saying they don't understand what the FIA is doing that should say something. Congrats to max

 

[bajaherbie]

Wow, what a finish!

 

[450grl]

I am still in awe of everything that happened at the end of that race. My driver made out, however messy it all might have been, so I'm happy with it. However, it WAS messy.....there was no way that was going to end with half of the world NOT being PO'd. It was great seeing Perez do his teammate thing and frustrating Hamilton for a minute. I'm a little sad that Bottas had such a lousy last race with Merc, but was happy to see Hamilton having to do it all by himself (I don't like Hamilton much, if you can't tell). Redbull took the right risks, they had nothing to lose.....Mercedes played it a little safe because they had everything to lose. I get it.....still an exciting, crazy end to an equally exciting and crazy season! Curious to see what carries over into next season, and will definitely be watching in 2022!

 

[Bricoop]

Hard to argue against this being the most entertaining season ever in F1.

Massi’s intent of having the race finish under green was a good one, but couldn’t have been executed in a much worse fashion than he did. I was yelling at my TV for a red flag immediately after the incident. A 4 lap shootout for the WDC would have been incredible. Alternatively, they should have held lapped cars in their current running order to prevent the massive advantage given to verstappen. Allowing some lapped cars the opportunity to unlap themselves not only disadvantaged Hamilton, but Sainz and Tsunuda as well.

Getting rid of 2-way communication with the race director is absolutely the right call in my opinion.

There needs to be some clarifications on what is allowed/required when a competitor is making a pass. Max consistently takes different lines than his competitors. If you rewatch the lap 1 incident, look about 4 cars back of Max and Lewis. Those 2 cars took a much different line, despite being side-by side. It’s been a very inconsistent season by the FIA. The conversation of requiring a competitor to leave a car’s width seems to have disappeared in the past month. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to ever take a wide line if the guy on the inside can do as he wants as long as he keeps within the boundary of the racetrack.

Nonetheless F1 continues to grow in popularity state side, which is great for the sport. I can’t wait to see who has figured out the 2022 car.

 

[Bricoop]

Also-I hope we get to see more of this view. The halo cam doesn’t do justice to what it’s like to drive an F1 car. “Piloting a bathtub while looking through a letter box” was such a great line.

 

[notime]

the mexico secretary of defense

 

[Chris_Wilson]

Such a shame that Max’s title will forever have an asterisk next to it as the result was manipulated by the officials for the sake of tv drama. Either Max or Louis would have been a worthy champion this year but the officials made a farce of it and manipulated the result.
I think F1 might have lost this life long fan over this. Not that anyone would care. I tuned out of Indycar when Tony George made a farce of the sport. Now the FIA has done the same to F1. So sad. Masi needs to go and the whole system of officiating needs to be overhauled starting with using the same stewards at every event.

 

[JerryB]

Agreed. This year had some epic battles and you knew it was going down to the wire between the two. The FIA has screwed the pooch on soooooo many times this year I can't even remember them all. Seemed like they would give Hamilton a pass on something, then Max, then Hamilton, then Max... was getting ridiculous. This last race, Hamilton got the pass on the cutting the corner and re-entering with the advantage, then it was Max' turn, which happened to be the last lap. I wish they would have extended the number of laps, allowed the lapped cars to unlap themselves the way they were supposed to, then had the green/white/checkers for at least a couple laps of racing to see if Max could have run him down with those new tires and passed. Problem is F1 cars run a finite amount of fuel, just enough to get to the finish and pass post race inspection, so unless they start loading more fuel, not going to happen.

 

[Bricoop]

Agreed. This year had some epic battles and you knew it was going down to the wire between the two. The FIA has screwed the pooch on soooooo many times this year I can't even remember them all. Seemed like they would give Hamilton a pass on something, then Max, then Hamilton, then Max... was getting ridiculous. This last race, Hamilton got the pass on the cutting the corner and re-entering with the advantage, then it was Max' turn, which happened to be the last lap. I wish they would have extended the number of laps, allowed the lapped cars to unlap themselves the way they were supposed to, then had the green/white/checkers for at least a couple laps of racing to see if Max could have run him down with those new tires and passed. Problem is F1 cars run a finite amount of fuel, just enough to get to the finish and pass post race inspection, so unless they start loading more fuel, not going to happen.

I believe the fuel load is too precise to extend the race. I can’t think of anything more fair than red flagging it.

 

[Fifty]

One thing that is getting majorly overlooked is the stewards in the last two races.

The stewards were the ones that either initiated and gave no penalty or failed to initiate investigations on Hamilton.

As Masi has said many times, he is unable to open investigations. Only the stewards can. And the stewards decisions are final.

It seems that the stewards initial decision to not allow lapped cars to pass at first was the straw that broke the back for Masi. I think he may have suspected pro Hamilton bias.

There were just way too many and too blatant overlooks on Hamilton’s behalf.

It is not always the race directors call to give a red flag. Often sections of a track or certain incidents will be handed to a single or a pair of stewards; sometimes in a rotation.

The fact that there was not a red flag when you needed a crane and track workers on the outside of a fast corner… Bianchi anyone?

I think Masi was playing catch-up and how to do it with out the stewards room looking bought and paid for.

As for max late apex corner passes. I watched a couple highlights from when Hamilton had grid penalties and had to come from the back. Or when he came up from the back, attacked and won.

We are so used to Hamilton just getting pole, making the first corner and then getting 15-30 seconds ahead and then Cruising.

But when he did need to actually race, he attacked corners the same way max does. Late brake, semi late apex, very similar to motocross, and forcing the other car to brake or go off track.

They use the same tactic.

 

[Tube ride]

Mario Andretti retired after this race sept 1982 .

 

[Mike @ pit b]

Kimi has a new job.

Raikkonen becomes Team Principal of Kawasaki motocross squad following F1 retirement | Formula 1®

 

[juanmoretime]

Gene's new car, might get a little sticky with this less than friendly business with russia?

 

[Bricoop]

Lol. First Rich Energy. Now this. Gene can’t catch a break.

 

[bajaherbie]

Now that Putin has invaded Ukraine and the govt is sanctioning Russia I am wondering if it will effect the Haas team?

Not trying to turn this into a purple debate but just curious if it will.

Gene may have to demand cash payments at each race, LOL

 

[Offspring]

it already has