2021 Formula 1 Season

[FLAMESRULE]

Loser of the day is unequivocally Bottas. He was a complete no show...again. Perez was masterful in his defence of Lewis that allowed Max to gain back 6-7s in 2 laps. Bottas did nothing.

I still can't process the end. F1 once again creates drama from what should be a hard and fast rule...clear the track and do (or do not) allow lapped cars to go. I appreciate the sentiment to let it be decided under green, but you know Merc is gonna appeal as well as other teams that couldn't unlap. apparently the 2 protests have been rejected, so Merc has filed notice to appeal.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

That was very CFL-y! It would have been nice to have the champion decided by racing not drama and gamesmanship all season. I want a one race winner take all shootout where Max and Lewis have to drive Williams or Haas cars.

Haha.
These were the words I was searching for and couldn't find.
It was very CFL-y

[FLAMESRULE]

Either way, it was a crazy, fascinating, and dramatic season. I'm stoked for Drive to Survive already.

Thanks to all those in the F1 pool...I'll go thru tomorrow and update the final standings.

Can't remember more people knowing or following F1 before. It's awesome to see and enjoy the insight and discussions here.

Next year should be just as good with new car specs, aero rules, tires etc.

[Fuzz]

The only good thing that could possible come out of this is for Massi to be fired. He's seen over the worst collection of decisions I've ever watched. The finish was a farce. Going for some sort of showdown in the finish, where the guy in the lead has trashed tires was handing the win to Max. Anyone who has watched 5 minutes of racing saw that coming.



What an embarrassment for the FIA.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

The only good thing that could possible come out of this is for Massi to be fired. He's seen over the worst collection of decisions I've ever watched. The finish was a farce. Going for some sort of showdown in the finish, where the guy in the lead has trashed tires was handing the win to Max. Anyone who has watched 5 minutes of racing saw that coming.



What an embarrassment for the FIA.

If you aren't going to follow rules or convention anyway, red flag the race with 4 laps to go.
That would have made for a spectacular finish

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by speede5

I can’t agree at all that this is motor racing or even remotely an acceptable way to drive through a corner and make a pass. He’s completely blown the apex and is forcing his opponent off the track. Nothing even remotely close to silver stone where Lewis was turning through the corner and drifted a couple feet. Max is still pointing straight ffs. Anyone can go balls out into a corner and play chicken that’s not talent it’s garbage.

It didn’t much matter as he wasn’t able to outpace the merc the whole race and the end was all about who decided to pit. It could have just as easily been ham with new tires and Max on old.

If Max was on the outside of that same pass he’d be crying the other way. It’s too bad these cars are so fragile I’d love to see someone just stay in there and say f u to those bonsai passes.

Anyone can do the bolded while running off the track...very few can make it stick. There's no rule nor convention that you have to hit the apex or that your overtake has to follow the traditional racing line/fastest way to make the corner. You do compromise yourself significantly with this approach and it can often be countered [on-track].

Max didn't force LH off the track. HAM could have backed off and made the corner; if he'd seen it coming earlier he could have taken a wider line to crossover and easily re-pass Max since Max's exit was so compromised.

Danny Ric and Max have been lauded for divebomb passes for years. Thankfully, there are still lots of tracks where the defender can't simply blow the corner to regain the position.

[dammage79]

Final constructors standings. I can't help but feel for Vettel and Aston Martin. And McLaren as well. McLaren was so strong for the fist two thirds of the season and then Ferrari just took over. They really weren't the same after the podium lockout at Monza. Lance Stroll needs to be replaced but I don't think that will ever happen.

I'm hoping for a wide open season next year. Where the constructor gap is closed top to bottom. More reliance on driver skill and much less about car development.

[woob]

Mercedes left Lewis out during VSC when Red Bull decided to pit (do the opposite of what your opponent does). That was a strategy call that went Red Bull's way, as Mercedes feared losing track position. Lewis commented on that call during the VSC, so he was worried about the potential to get caught out on that if a Safety Car showed up.

As to the end of the race, Red Flag would have neutralized Red Bull's strategy call, which would have given advantage back to Mercedes, but was likely the best option to call. Have a 4-5 lap mini race to close it all out. Second best would have been to make the lapped cars call the right way initially, rather than the way they did.

Had Mercedes decided to pull Hamilton in and put on softs, yes they'd have lost track position but with Hamilton's pace, he likely would have gotten it back easily. I thought that was a miscue on their part during the race (before the ending happened) and still think it was a miscue now.

4 takeaways for me;

4 - Checo is a beast. The way he battled Hamilton and brought Max back within 1.7 seconds was incredible. What a teammate. I love seeing driving like that. Reminded me of when Alonso was fighting Lewis earlier in the season.

3 - Toto's whining during the race was very eye roll worthy. Especially with how he was on the horn during the VSC telling Masi not to pull a safety car. Get bent, Toto.

2- Kudos to Hamilton. He was gracious and composed and showed why he's a 7 time WDC. I hope we get to see him battle with Max a couple more seasons before he retires.

1 - Congratulations to Max. Controversy aside, it was really cool to see that level of emotion finally come out of him. Say what you will about him, but his passion for racing is incredible and I'm happy to see him win WDC. Hopefully he gets to keep it.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Anyone can do the bolded while running off the track...very few can make it stick. There's no rule nor convention that you have to hit the apex or that your overtake has to follow the traditional racing line/fastest way to make the corner. You do compromise yourself significantly with this approach and it can often be countered [on-track].

Max didn't force LH off the track. HAM could have backed off and made the corner; if he'd seen it coming earlier he could have taken a wider line to crossover and easily re-pass Max since Max's exit was so compromised.

Danny Ric and Max have been lauded for divebomb passes for years. Thankfully, there are still lots of tracks where the defender can't simply blow the corner to regain the position.

Max has not been lauded for his divebomb passes for years. He’s never been known for it.

Danny Ric has though and no one in their right mind would compare Danny Ric’s passes with Max’s reckless driving.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

The only good thing that could possible come out of this is for Massi to be fired. He's seen over the worst collection of decisions I've ever watched. The finish was a farce. Going for some sort of showdown in the finish, where the guy in the lead has trashed tires was handing the win to Max. Anyone who has watched 5 minutes of racing saw that coming.



What an embarrassment for the FIA.

A million times this. Masi is just the absolute worst.

I wonder who can influence the FIA to make changes. I would assume Liberty could but do they want to? The teams I imagine are all unhappy with his incompetence, even RB. I just hope the popularity of F1 exploding doesn’t lead to no changes and even more farcical decisions. F1 is growing in spite of poor race direction, not because of it.

[dammage79]

I like the idea of Alonso or Vettel being in Masi seat. Those cats know wtf is up.

[woob]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I like the idea of Alonso or Vettel being in Masi seat. Those cats know wtf is up.

Vettel; First order of business, give myself first place back for Canada 2019.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I like the idea of Alonso or Vettel being in Masi seat. Those cats know wtf is up.

If we don't get to hear Kimi saying "no" as the only response to any team principal challenge, we really miss out. Get him up here, too.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

My favourite theory of the day:

Mick Schumacher intentionally runs Latifi wide and gets debris on Latifi’s tires, Latifi then crashes in the very next corner causing the SC, Max gets to pit for sorts and overtakes Lewis on the final lap restart.

Thus preventing Lewis from breaking his dad’s record and getting his 8th title.

That’s some 4D chess right there.

[speede5]

Or adopt a g-w-c like nascar? If the teams knew there would absolutely be two more green laps both teams would have come in for tires and it would have been an amazing two laps.

Honestly it doesn’t matter what they do f1 is just a tough sport to have good hard racing in without controversy. The cars are too fragile for contact and all the “rules” of how to drive and handle a car just cause stewards to get involved and interpret intent and someone always comes out on the losing end and this is where we are.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Max didn't force LH off the track. HAM could have backed off and made the corner; if he'd seen it coming earlier he could have taken a wider line to crossover and easily re-pass Max since Max's exit was so compromised.

But that’s exactly what he did, he forced Hamilton off the track. Dive bomb and make the corner and take the preferred line away, ok, but you shouldn’t take the whole track away from the other driver like that. LH was already turning in and max is still going straight. And on the first friggin lap too. Maybe he just didn’t gaf if they crashed cause then he’d win. That was not a mature move or talented. It was just reckless. Guys like max would benefit so much from a punchin the mouth once in while. It’s too bad everyone’s so bloody proper in f1.

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Either way, it was a crazy, fascinating, and dramatic season. I'm stoked for Drive to Survive already.

Thanks to all those in the F1 pool...I'll go thru tomorrow and update the final standings.

Can't remember more people knowing or following F1 before. It's awesome to see and enjoy the insight and discussions here.

Next year should be just as good with new car specs, aero rules, tires etc.

I’m one that got back into F1 this year due to DTS. I was a big fan when I was a kid (Rene Arnoux with Ferrari, and the David Coulthard and Mikka Hakkinen BMW eras) but had only loosely followed it for a while. Started really following it again and it’s been a fantastic season from an entertainment aspect.

I came into it kind of disliking Hamilton, and not knowing much about Max. But as I watched I liked Lewis more than I expected and Max much less.

As for today, just an unfortunate way to decide the championship. The problem when an official (in any sport) wants to “not decide the outcome” and have it decided on the rink/field/track, is that inevitably a call or non-call still ends up deciding things.

If a hockey player gets hauled down on a great scoring chance, the non-call is still a major factor in the outcome. In the case today, by having only those 5 cars unlap themselves so they could rush the restart with Max on new softs really decided the race, just as much as if he let all cars unlap themselves and the race finishes under yellow. Whatever Masi did was going to have a huge impact on who won, so instead of bending the rules to allow that last lap, he should have done what would be done in any other race. IMO.

But Masi had the worst job in F1 today, no matter what he did it was going to meet severe criticism.

[dammage79]

Just excited for next year. New cars. The return of Albon. Hopefully a 4 or more team duel for constructors and drivers championships. It's my dream really.

I want McLaren and Aston and Williams rising to the top. I'd love to see the Mercs drop off as they've been far too dominant in the short time span of their existence (Brawn). And RB can slide back a bit too. Time for some other teams to fight.

[Badgers Nose]

Red flag, let people change tires, standing start with current grid order of the race when Latifi crashed. Five laps to settle it, fair and square. Seriously Masi, is that so hard?

[ben voyonsdonc]

Pit stops (or at least tire changes) should be illegal on yellow flags. It’s that simple.