There's the rub really - Max won fair and square but Mercedes do have a point. Taking the win away from Max would be unfair but equally Toto does have a valid grievance with how Masi handled things. I saw in a Facebook group someone say the best solution would be to give Hamilton a five second penalty for the turn one incident and Max a five second penalty for 'overtaking' under the SC - problem solved really.Sensible ones probably are, absolutely. My problem isn't even with Max. He won fair and square, it's not his fault the FIA is a literal circus tent. Again, congrats to him. He's still way too abrasive/aggressive on track and I'd imagine it's only going to get worse from hereon but he does deserve the win. No question.
Won't get into the specifics of this and last race as it's pointless now. All I want is for Masi to kick rocks and never officiate an F1 race again. Not even in his own thoughts.
Max will have to be careful at the start of next year. He's up high on penalty points, and they're all recent. If he would continue his standards as the last few races, he'll be up to a race ban in no time.
Lewis got extremely lucky at Silverstone and indeed, had he not made that rookie error with the brake magic at Baku, he may have been in a better position. I agree the race restart wasn't the best way to end the championship but Lewis has had a fair amount of luck this season as well. Had he not been in the Merc he may not have won the last two championships - same goes for Schumi at Ferrari to be fair. Let's be honest due to the disparity between the cars F1 isn't a meritocracy in terms of driver talent - if it were Russell and Leclerc would have been fighting for race wins (and potentially championships) for ages now.
I think 2022 will be harder for Max due to the Russell factor, he's a young, aggressive racer as well and Max will have to be careful abut his penalty points. If Ferrari sort their act out Sainz and Leclerc could be in the mix as well. I feel that Ferrari's lack of pace in recent years has really paved the way for Red Bull to come back in a big way.
Doing away with direct radio to Masi/the FIA during races would help this I feel. However, having said that, how many referees have changed their position due to footballers crowding around them? My conspiracy theory is that it was all about wanting a race for the sake of drama and he had Liberty breathing down his neck. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think it would have been sporting for the race to have been ended under a safety car but an instant red flag would have a) made things fairer and b) given some proper racing lenth wise.
Just like the FIA "engineered" Max's win today with their shenanigans?
I agree with Lewis having serious chops and, as I pointed out upthread he outperformed Seb in 2018 when the Ferrari seemed to be the best car. I'm hardly a hater but surely you have to agree the Merc's pace in the last two years was insane. I mean, Racing Point copied the 2019 car in 2020 and were able to storm ahead. I'm also not saying that today proves Max is the better driver. Ultimately, we'll never know as I doubt Hamilton will ever end up Red Bull or Max at Mercedes.Just like the FIA "engineered" Max's win today with their shenanigans?
Going back to the car, whether its well engineered or not, the driver is still a factor. Yeah Lewis won his championships in a great car, that doesn't change the fact that he drove the car to the end and won the races. You cannot just disregard the driver's ability just because they are driving a great car. If the driver was not relevant, than anyone could have done it but looking at Lewis record, I say that's not quite right because his abilities and speed, despite what many of his haters may think, have made the difference just like they would have made a difference again today had it not being for the FIA.
Also, I never said Max should be penalized no did I want that. I'm just really frustrated that a race that I had been so excited about and have been looking forward to watch so much ended in such fashion. Like I said before, I don't have a problem with him winning, I just feel like he didn't do it by merit because if you take out what the FIA did at the end, that race should have ended under the SC with Lewis winning it. Either way what's done is done, congrats to Max for winning his first championship and I'm sure he'll have a couple more. For me, I just wish it wasn't tinted with all the FIA controversy.
Fair point. But it still stands that teams should be able to base their decisions in these situations on a set of rules that they expect the FIA to follow. Massi can't just make crap up for the sake of "to have a race". Why wasn't Sainz allowed to race? He had 2 cars between himself and Max. There were 5 between Max and Lewis. His decision helped Max and punished Lewis. When decisions like this are made, they should only be made if they affect all drivers equally.
Except it isn't. As pointed out by snowgt they couldn't have. In any case, they were still in the best posituion as - according to the rules and regulations - Massi had 3 options available to him.
It's amazing that the most talented drivers get paired with the most talented team's isn't it.
It's not a lottery, outliers don't change the trend.
Engineers, both mechanical and aerodynamic, are worthy of just about as much praise as the drivers in the fastest branch of the autosport.
