F1 2021

Cleanfoam

Forum GOD!
What should’ve been a great advert for F1 made it a laughing stock. 1 man seems to have made it up as he went along at the end.

I’m not a big fan of either driver, but I’d hoped that the best driver/car would’ve won without any outside interference. Race director effectively decided the championship which is poor for the sport.
 

ajc347

Forum GOD!
The stewards judgement has proven to be very enlightening. I’ve posted it below in case you haven’t seen it in full.

It would appear, in their opinion, that the Race Director, in their view has the right to override and reinterpret the salient regulations that apply to a given situation on a whim.

I’m sure that Charlie Whiting will be turning in his grave at this farcical situation where pressure by Christian Horner would appear to have caused the original decision not to let unmapped cars overtake, get changed so quickly.

I feel sorry for the drivers who had the 3 lapped cars in front of them at the restart, as they were clearly not afforded the same opportunity that Max was given to gain a place. It would appear that their race position didn’t matter but only Red Bull’s race position did.

I can also recall that Max was saying in press interviews yesterday that he wanted fairness to be applied by the stewards. I wonder whether he still holds that position now?
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sev-8

Forum GOD!
I've had a few hours to think about it and I'm still really disappointed with how it played out. Watching it live, I thought that it was part poor strategy by Mercedes under the VSC - I thought they should've been able to stop as the VSC was ending an still come out in front - and part legal manipulation by the race director to make the end of the race more entertaining. I didn't really think about the regulations, why would I, I'm not dedicated enough to study them unlike some.

I'd call myself a Lewis Hamilton fan. Not a die hard, he and Mercedes have definitely made mistakes during the year and all things being equal Max should have won if he hadn't had bad luck in races like Baku and Hungary. Knowing that there are regulations, but they're so flexible so as to be pointless leaves a bad taste. I've seen lots of people (probably, could be bots) on Twitter sounding off and saying that they're giving up on F1. I'm sure some of them will calm down in a few days. If it's become more about manufactured entertainment than sport then maybe I'll do the same, I've been following it for 35 years give or take, so it's not easy to step away however there are more entertaining, purer forms of motorsport that are just as accessible, so I might jump ship.
 

ajc347

Forum GOD!
What I’ve found interesting this evening is taking the time do dig out the regulations and study them with a fine tooth comb.

I am surprised as to how the Race Director and stewards appear to be reading a completely different document and lack any basis of constructing a logical argument around them.

It’s as if they have taken Red Bull’s counter arguments and have used them almost word for word, despite the assumptions being contained within them being both incorrect and illogical.

The person who has come out the worst during whole affair for me, isn’t Michael Masi (who appears to be somewhat out of his depth), but Christian Horner. It would appear from the radio messages, that he was instrumental in changing Michael Masi’s mind, in order to achieve his aim of getting a final lap of racing, through the clear pressure he was placing on him.

Whilst you could argue that this is, in some respects, his job, his comments about Mercedes afterwards and the reported offer he has made to provide Lafiti with a lifetime supply of Red Bull because he crashed, are distasteful and clearly say something about his character.

If almost feels as though the situation these days is to win at any cost. This saddens me immensely; you only have to look at the sportsmanship displayed by the likes of Sterling Moss and the greatest driver of them all, Juan Manuel Fangio, to see how far the sport has fallen over the last few years.

The championship winning shenanigans of Prost, Senna and Schumacher running their opponents off of the track in order to win a championship were bad enough, but compared to the events of this season (which has to be one of the most consistently exciting in recent years), pale into insignificance.
 

Vacumatic

Testy
The most telling line in the phone call from Red Bull was

"We only need one lap."

IMHO if the safety car incident had happened at lap 40 then it would simply have been race on without giving any thought as to the lapped cars being allowed to unlap themselves. Not sure that the decision process should have been any different at lap 57, unless the race director just wanted a dramatic end which is probably outside his remit.

Again, imho, a fairer outcome would have been to finish the race under the safety car.
 

Northam Saint

Forum GOD!
Putting the fiasco aside that last lap could of gone either way and it was a full on racing lap. The rules and two very strong cars at the front have ruined the wheel to wheel racing element. Seeing a Mercedes steam off from pole isn’t racing. Fair play it’s a great all round package, and if you are a Hamilton fan you like seeing it, but if you are a race fan ? May be, just May be the new regs will even things out a bit, but when you have a huge amount of cash you will have a way of doing better than everyone else. Should always be a win on the track, not in the stewards room.
 

Cleanfoam

Forum GOD!
It’ll be interesting to see what change the new set of rules bring next season. If it brings the ability to race closer, overtake more and brings teams like Ferrari nearer the front it’ll be great.

for me though, much more importantly will be the fall out from yesterdays race. It seems to me there needs to be a proper set of rules for safety car, track limits etc. it’s not hard in a sport that has so many sensors and cameras.

Make it black and white rules - anywhere on track you cross white lines it’s a penalty or cut engine power. Safety car deployed? Shut pit lane. VSC? Same thing. Red flag? Nobody gets to work on their car.
 
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