F1/ Formula E/ Motorsport Thread

Allowing for a safety car is part of the strategy. Every team has to factor that in, and it nearly didn't work out for Red Bull.

 

Only won £20 as I bet when Max was only 2.5s with about 14 laps to go, so you must have bet very very late on.

 

That's the key part. to their satisfaction. Verstappen was alongside in the braking zone but a second behind afterwards, which was satisfactory to the stewards. Odd call. Well no, wrong call. Clearly.

 

I got 5/2 on Max to win on the penultimate lap, just before they announced the cars would be allowed to unlap.

 

They mentioned on the commentary that they weren't happy to release the cars as there was still debris on the track.

 

I see on BBC website live feed they’re making the point if the FIA and Masi really wanted to let them race, and to contrive to let that happen, they could have red flagged the race, given Hamilton a chance to switch to fresh softs and let them have 4 or 5 laps going hammer and tongs.

 

Haven’t really watched F1 since I was a kid but this was great. Pretty boring for 57 laps with the exception of Perez holding up Hamilton. Last lap was excellent though, fair play to the F1 control for screwing Hamilton and Toto Wolff over, couldn’t happen to a better couple.

 

Other than Saudi last week, which saw the SC do an entire season's worth of laps in one race, debris is usually a double waved yellow. Especially as there was a minute gap for the marshalls to be on the track even with unlapping cars.

 

Masi had a WTE moment.

Hamilton showing more grace than I can muster.

Finding it difficult to be happy for Max and his dad!

 

Surely you can't overtake on DWY?

 

It's a local flag... It means you have to slow down and be prepared to stop. The cars would be released from the pack, then when they get to that section they slow down more. You see Marshalls running on the track to clear debris when a circuit is live, let alone when under a SC.

 

Well done you, very brave!

 

LOL. Everyone banging about Hamilton’s graciousness in interviews and to Verstappen, only for his team to lodge two protests over the result.

 

That’s not sport. Masi contrived and engineered the result. He tricked Mercedes into not pitting Lewis, by not allowing the overtake then letting them overtake at the last moment when it was too late to pit.

You cannot have the race director making up the rules on the hoof.

It’s just farcical and unjust. Micheal Masi has to resign. Total incompetence.

Looks like Mercedes have appealed and if the FIA uphold their own rules Mercedes have a strong case.

 

Has a race ever started on DWY after a safety car? I doubt it.

That's a really good point.

It's not hard to see what's happened. A loss of control by Masi. He's buckled at being screamed at by Horner, and settled for the entertainment factor over fairness/ rules.

To be fair to RB fans, if they gave 6 penalties to Watford against City in the FA Cup final and then reduced them to 5 men for the last 2 minutes, I’d still be delighted when we scored.

But it would feel fairly hollow. Max is good enough to win a championship without giveaways.

 

If there was still debris on the penultimate lap, I'd have re-started the GP without letting lapped cars overtake, but essentially have started the race under triple waved blue flags, so cars would have to dive out of the way of Max on the first straight. Max still might have won it, but it would have been a fair fight.

Mercedes second appeal is that Max overtook under the safety car, and images show he did go ahead briefly. Not sure there is any precedent for penalising someone who briefly overtook under the safety car, and that would feel as stupid a way to take a title away from someone as changing the safety car rules.

It says a lot about how good Lewis is that he easily could have had 3 more titles: When his team left him out in the wet, his terrible luck in the year vs Rosberg, and the year that the stewards decided the title

 

Masi's indecision has made a mockery of the sport. Can't see decision will be reversed .
Can you imagine this happening in football with var , original decision foul, no let game go on.... Oh hang on

 

Agreed. You cant really change the result now, but Masi has to go and the whole rules system needs review.

 

4

When Ron had him drive around in china with tyres through to the carcass

 

What an utter joke this sport is. Embarrassing.

 

Absolutely. If the roles were reversed Max would probably have refused media interviews, eyeballed Hamilton, sloped off the back of the podium at the first opportunity and then Red Bull would have put their protests in.

 

Urgh whatever happens here it’s a dark day for formula 1. Lewis deserves the title, but you would have to really feel for Max. The whole thing has been clouded by the FIA.

I really used to follow F1 closely, but I’m really struggling to stay interested now.

 

Have to disagree.
It has been a long time since F1 captured everyone's imagination.
Today had the lot and I am not a F1 fan at all
Chapeau to Hamilton for his graciousness immediately after the race when his emotions must have been running high.

 

And you’ve got to respect that!

 

But it was engineered drama. Anyone can do that. It was Hollywood not sport.

Michael Masi broke all the rules to ensure a last lap finish between Max and Lewis. Trouble was Lewis was a sitting duck because he was on old tyres. It is like Michael Oliver awarding one if his last minute penalties and telling the keeper to stand outside of the goal. It was an open goal, and provided no drama at all.

 

Toto: "Yeah, but can you throw a kettle over a pub?"

 

But everyone is talking about it which can only be good for F1 ?

 

The endless football analogies are amazing in this thread.

I thought Lewis had 11 men behind the ball, Max went all out attack and sent the keeper up and then Mercedes kicked the ball in their own goal and have blamed the referee immediately and set a barrister on him.

Meanwhile Damon Hill has turned into Santa Claus in off season mode.

 

Hamilton went all Spursy , ?

 

I think there must be some contractual requirements regarding driver's demeanour after a race. You very rarely see open animosity, although MV exited as quickly as he could last week.

 

Not really when the talk is trashing the sport. Brilliant season spoilt by an incompetent fool in charge.

You cannot ignore the rules on a whim. It makes the sport farcical and pointless.

Whatever happens, I think Masi’s position is untenable.