But yeah, it would be amazing to see Russell give Toto the middle finger and humiliate Hamilton on the track. I would love this, believe me. I almost get excited thinking about it. Realistically I dont think it will happen though.
The only time a team really lets their drivers fight is if they have the clear best car, otherwise you get the 2007 situation where Alonso and Hamilton fought and then Kimi stole the WDC. For sure it's what the fans want but from McLaren's point of view it was a terrible error. But then they probably didn't expect Hamilton to put up such a strong campaign against a reigning champion.
Yeah, probably not.... but if the Ferrari suddenly comes good I'm not so sure it will be Charles who will pick up the glory...
I think Checo made Hamilton lose around 8-9s. When Latifi crashed at lap 53/58, Hamilton was leading by 11-12s, so adding those 8-9s was enough for Hamilton to pit (under Safety Car) and still retain the lead. So yes, thanks to Checo’s blocking, Masi’s illegal decision to break the Safety Car rules changed the winner of the race and the Title. Without Masi breaking the rules, Checo's action would have been irrelevant. Without Checo blocking Hamilton, Masi’s illegal action would have been irrelevant.
According to the replay, LH's gap over MV was 6+ secs, which went down to 1.3 secs by the time LH got past Perez. So LH lost about 5 secs while behind Checo. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...stappen-back-into.7uK1OGMecfK4x02MCQegcv.html
Maybe, but with a thin margin, who knows what might have happened. It's all speculation. Based on the race as it was, it's a pretty big stretch to credit Checo for Max's win. Checo is a likeable guy, I hope he does better for the team in 2022. But the fact is that Bottas did better in terms of results, hence why Mercedes won the Constructor's.
I think the general consensus though is that regardless of the outcome, Checo gave Max a 'chance' he wouldn't have had otherwise (before the safety car) .
Yes he gave Max a chance to close in on Hamilton, but that was way back on lap 20 and didn't amount to much. My remark was in response to Kappa saying that Checo was the winning recipe for Max's championship, but I really don't see how he was a primary factor.
Lets hope Pirez can be quick in 2022, it feels like his average gap to the mighty Max was around 0,5 sec per lap. Red Bull really needs a second driver that can drive fast.
I agree. It’s Masi to be credited for Max’s win BTW, this article explains quite well the rules Masi broke, and also why the Stewards were also wrong in their poor decision after the Mercedes’ protest, trying to cover up Masi's mistake. Masi had no power to brake 48.12. That 15.3 doesn’t give him power to break the rules, and the Stewards wrote that http://www.moneysavingmotoring.co.uk/f1xed/?s=08
I guess Masi is my new idol. Albert, you know all about this stuff. How come they doubled down on his decision if it was 100% breaching of the rules? Really makes no sense this whole mess
Guys please, if you wanna keep going over the pros and the cons of the laste race, which have been discussed in detail upon detail, please do so in the 2021 thread. Let’s keep this one cheerful and naive and discuss the upcoming season which will be the greatest in F1 history.
This is precisely why what happened on that last lap in Abu Dhabi reaches the level of scandal. Masi broke the rules, and the Stewards covered up for him. No doubt an impartial court would have agreed with Mercedes, but according to the Concorde Agreement, Mercedes' appeal would have been heard just at the International Court of Appeal of the FIA. So the FIA judging errors by FIA officials… it would not have been a fair or impartial trial, and that was one of the reasons why Mercedes did not go ahead with the appeal.