2021 F1 Discussions

stevec14
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El Matarife El Matarife
My favourite part was where they made up new rules on the fly!

Shall we keep the lapped cars where they are? No!

Shall we let the lapped cars through? No!

Shall we let through enough lapped cars to put Max behind Lewis before the last lap starts? Yes!

Okaaaaay 😁
According to the FIA response (per Damon hill on sky) there is a clause which allows the race director discretion on safety car matters. Also it was pointed out that all teams had apparently agreed this year to not finish behind the SC if at all possible.

The bottom line is that if merc had pitted then they would have either overtaken max on the last lap if he had remained out or both had same tyres in which case I doubt max would have passed.

they made a couple of questionable calls (even Lewis questioned). Lewis is hugely unlucky and has gone way up in my estimation for the way HE has handled this. Mercedes, less so.

Edit: I should point out I am not a F1 expert but those clauses above were raised on sky earlier.
 
El Matarife
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Yago Yago
A lot of comments on IG and Reddit about letting lapped cars through. People don’t seem to understand this always happens under SC. Race direction not exaclty letting cars change racing order under SC 😒
A lot of kids online it seems.

Yes! All lapped cars - at least, up until today! 😁

Jim Dollares Jim Dollares
Is it confirmed that they completely ignored current rules and made up new ones on the fly? Sounds very retarded if true.... like they dont want anyone to maintain the respect for F1. But lots of angry rainbow fans online right now so tricky to know what is true.

@El Matarife do you have a good source for this?

C4 commentator Alex Jacques:"...not all lapped cars were let through at that point, that was not in the rule book. There's also something that says the safety car comes in the following lap after that happens, that wasn't followed..."

But hey, the race director is the ultimate arbiter of the interpretation of the rules, so it's all good?!?! 👍
 
Yago
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So let’s say Latifi’s car would’ve been hauled in a lap sooner iso this uberslow recovery. In Monaco it would have been out of the way the very lap it crashed.
There then would have been time to let all cars pass. Max would still have been right on Lewis’ tail and he would still have won.
In the real world there wasn’t time and Massi needed to make a decision. As outlined above he decided it better to let the two protagnists race as under normal SC procedures in p1 and 2 iso having no race at all. Everyone signed up for this.
 
Jim Dollares
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Mspeedster Mspeedster
TAG Heuer has been calling the Titan Monaco Max's lucky charm, so it will be interesting to see whether they'll release another Max WDC watch as well.

But if they do, you'd want that more than the watch he wore to become champion?

20211212_093641.jpg
I think so yes. But we will see. If I get a Monaco I will probably not get the Titan at all, would get the 211P. I loved the Titan upon release but nowadays I feel a bit colder about it, especially not a fan of the case finish.
 
Mspeedster
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Jim Dollares Jim Dollares
I think so yes. But we will see. If I get a Monaco I will probably not get the Titan at all, would get the 211P. I loved the Titan upon release but nowadays I feel a bit colder about it, especially not a fan of the case finish.
It's all good, the Blue McQueen has also been worn by Max! 👍
Screenshot_20211212-105933_Instagram.jpg
 
Anthony.
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Congratulations to Max on becoming WDC.
That race last night was out of this world and I'm sure it has attracted new people to the sport.
Many would have tuned in for the first time to watch the much hyped battle between Max and Lewis.

Heaps of talking points out of this one.

For all asking for Lewis to give back the position
Keep in mind if that happened Max has track position and is unable to Pit as he did giving Mercedes the upper hand to do all manner of moves with strategy.

With 10 laps remaining Horner said himself it would take a Miracle for Max to get the Win. Enter the SC.

From there on all the pieces fell into place for Max.
Massi played his part in only allowing a few cars to pass until Max was on Lewis and the rest is history.

Certainly a few peculiar decisions made by Race Control.

Lewis is all class the way he congratulated Max and his team right after the race. It wouldn't have been easy for him. But that is the quality of the Man.
You would never have seen that happen if the result was the other way around from Max.

Mercedes should Appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Can you imagine that?
This saga would continue for weeks.

Anyway 2021 is done and Max is Champion.
But only due to a Miracle.

Enjoy the 90 days off until 2022 kicks off again.
 
Aquagraph
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Someone just pointed out that Merc might not have a very sympathetic ear from the FIA considering their shennanigins in DTM this year
 
Aquagraph
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Anthony. Anthony.R
For all asking for Lewis to give back the position. Keep in mind if that happened Max has track position and is unable to Pit as he did giving Mercedes the upper hand to do all manner of moves with strategy.

True, although I doubt Max would have kept him behind anyway as the Merc was clearly faster

Anthony. Anthony.R
With 10 laps remaining Horner said himself it would take a Miracle for Max to get the Win. Enter the SC.

Funny thing, quite a few laps earlier I said to my wife the last thing we need now is a safety car as Lewis will pit and Max's tyre advantage will be lost. 😁

Anthony. Anthony.R
Mercedes should Appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Can you imagine that?
This saga would continue for weeks.
Does the FIA acknowledge a higher authority! 😲
Doubtful.
 
imagwai
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I've said it before and I'll say it again. Safety cars ruin races. How is it fair to have a lead you've worked hard all race to build to just be wiped out just like that? I don't wish to compromise driver safety, but there must be a way to stop turning these races into a complete joke. The safety car today, 5 laps from the end, effectively wasted my time by rendering the prior one and a half hours of the race pointless.
 
El Matarife
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imagwai imagwai
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Safety cars ruin races. How is it fair to have a lead you've worked hard all race to build to just be wiped out just like that? I don't wish to compromise driver safety, but there must be a way to stop turning these races into a complete joke. The safety car today, 5 laps from the end, effectively wasted my time by rendering the prior one and a half hours of the race pointless.
In the old days safety cars were for exceptional circumstances. These days it's the default everytime someone so much as sneezes on the track... bogies at turn 3!
 
kappa_md
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Mercedes strategy call was their own undoing. Even Lewis said “Unbelievable” why the Mercs didn’t call him to pit..

WDC is done. Mercedes is Constructors Champion. They’d be remembered as sore losers if they keep protesting something trivial. Good job to Red Bull-Honda. It was indeed a miracle for the situation to unfold. No one can argue about luck (same as what LH always have but not this day) Driver of the Day is Checo. He is always a team player. Max is World Champion. He drove brilliantly all season. Congratulations to Red Bull (a sports drink manufacturer who the Mercs says they are uncomforable losing as they are an OEM manufacturer) Perfect send off to HONDA! All of Japan is thrilled! Even TOYOTA bid luck to HONDA 😉 TAG Heuer is once again CHAMPION ::rimshot::
The Racer’s Chronograph ::psy::
 
Anthony.
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imagwai imagwai
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Safety cars ruin races. How is it fair to have a lead you've worked hard all race to build to just be wiped out just like that? I don't wish to compromise driver safety, but there must be a way to stop turning these races into a complete joke. The safety car today, 5 laps from the end, effectively wasted my time by rendering the prior one and a half hours of the race pointless.
Lando said this exact thing last week.
 
Mspeedster
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kappa_md kappa_md
Driver of the Day is Checo. He is always a team player.
I know you're speaking figuratively, but it must be noted that Driver of the Day went to Kimi. Still a fan favorite. 😀
Screenshot_20211212-085443_Instagram.jpg

Now that he's retired, I really no longer have a current fav to root for.
 
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