Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021Formula 1

[Leggacy]

I want to see a “match fixing” style investigation into this. I’d love to know what Horner $aid to Masi to make them di$regard the rule book and only let 5 cars un-lap themselves and wonder how much Jos was involved? It all seems a bit shady. I really hope Masi gets fired.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I want to see a “match fixing” style investigation into this. I’d love to know what Horner $aid to Masi to make them di$regard the rule book and only let 5 cars un-lap themselves and wonder how much Jos was involved? It all seems a bit shady. I really hope Masi gets fired.

Come on Masi, we'll give you a lifetime supply of wings. Masi later regretted the decision.

 

[Leggacy]

i bet this guy gets a lifetime supply of red bull too

 

[Sum1s2pid]

It was lose-lose for poor Latifi.

 

[Jimlaad43]

I thought he retired after winning the title???

 

[Famine]

The toilet in Latifi's motor home at the 2022 pre-season test:

 

[NotThePrez]

According to Will Buxton, Latifi has actually been getting a lot of crap on social media due to his crash, which is pretty silly.

 

[Fat Tyre]

I want to see a “match fixing” style investigation into this. I’d love to know what Horner $aid to Masi to make them di$regard the rule book and only let 5 cars un-lap themselves and wonder how much Jos was involved? It all seems a bit shady. I really hope Masi gets fired.

I don't think money would have taken part. But I think it was more of psychological warfare on Masi. He seems to be easily influenced, basically just a push over. And although from a distance we can mock Horner of being a Karen and such I'm guessing being in that situation Horner could be quite intimidating. If you don't have much of a backbone he'd walk all over you. And in this case I think that's what happened. Anyone else with a healthy amount of ego would have said look I called a shot and I'm sticking to it. If we race it will depend on if there's time after we follow all the procedures.

 

[ColinNZ]

Wow, this thread is still going strong.

I'm impressed by the way Lewis has dealt with the aftermath of this race. He's clearly frustrated and disappointed, but was able to congratulate Max and be gracious about it. I don't think any of us can understand how physically and mentally draining a race like this can be, let alone an entire season at this insane level.

I think his experience is shining through. He's both won and lost championships at the last race. He's done it all before. He knows the best thing he can do now is focus on the next race and the next season, because the checkered flag has already been thrown on this one.

All the lawyers, complaints and technicalities cannot erase Max taking that checkered flag, cannot erase him holding up that trophy.

You don't have to like it, you don't have to watch it, but the championship is over.

Max won. Max is the champion.

And Lewis will more motivated than ever to take that title back.

 

[ScottPuss20]

There's too many pitfalls and caveats if the result is to be overturned. The rules and regulations are all subject to interpretation and the FIA can easily throw out any and all allegations if there's something that justifies the overriding of certain procedures. Nothing is clear cut and that is the problem for Mercedes. I don't know if it's possible to make judgement calls based on a "what if" scenario in the court of law. There has to be irrefutable proof that Hamilton would've won the race and if not, their case won't hold up. It sucks for them but I fail to see how anything will change. Hard to defeat a corrupt organisation that won't admit to their own failings.

 

[Fat Tyre]

you don't have to watch it

That's right and I won't be doing so. When I cancelled my streaming subscription it dawned on me I spent about 200 dollars this year to watch this season.

It's not only Lewis that was robbed, all of us fans were even Max fans though they might not want to realise it right now. I think the best thing to do is just ditch F1 altogether. Why watch it next year when we know commercial/financial interests reign supreme and there is no fair competition?

This ending was what did it for me but I think things are just going to get worst from here. Liberty Media's push through Brown to spice up the shows through sprint races, potentially reverse grids in the future and a total disregard for their own rules all for the sake of increasing tv ratings tell me even if we can't imagine it now it will get worst.

I do feel bad for Lewis but especially for Max (once he gets an ounce of introspection he'll realise how empty this championship win was), Leclerc, Russell and Norris. The level of talent in that grid is through the roof but sadly they've emerged at a time where this has ceased to be a sport.

 

[McLaren]

More from Danny, language warning but it is bleeped.


Wonder if any of the drivers are wondering, "Could that happen to us in the future?"

 

[Northstar]

I can't honestly say I'm done with F1, for starters I paid for a full year of F1 TV prior to the Saudi round so I might as well use it. Secondly most of the races are on right around the time I wake up so it's nice to have live racing to watch right away. I'm not sure I'll be altering my sleep schedule to watch the odd timed ones live though like I've been doing up to now.

There has to be irrefutable proof that Hamilton would've won the race and if not, their case won't hold up.

In this case there actually is though. Had F1 followed their protocol the race would have finished under safety car, meaning the only way Lewis would have lost is if he retired or was penalized for some reason.

Having said that, I don't think they should change the results since the winning team didn't themselves break any rules and shouldn't be punished for race control making the Three Stooges look like geniuses. Plus changing the result would seem like a way for the FIA to wipe the egg off it's face, and at this point they don't deserve the opportunity to do that.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

There's too many pitfalls and caveats if the result is to be overturned. The rules and regulations are all subject to interpretation and the FIA can easily throw out any and all allegations if there's something that justifies the overriding of certain procedures. Nothing is clear cut and that is the problem for Mercedes. I don't know if it's possible to make judgement calls based on a "what if" scenario in the court of law. There has to be irrefutable proof that Hamilton would've won the race and if not, their case won't hold up. It sucks for them but I fail to see how anything will change. Hard to defeat a corrupt organisation that won't admit to their own failings.

They should use Masi's words and sporting regulations in their favour, hopefully they go through with it as it will be make it a bit more interesting to see FIA get a bigger spotlight on them that they need and hopefully leads to reform. Can't be having rogue race directing not even listing the names of all the drivers chosen (Might as well put only cars in front of Max are allowed to unlap themselves). Carlos could have easily taken the race lead like when Esteban did when Max launched his car like a missile to try and get past Lewis once again and blocking Lewis's exit. Unbelievable the race director did as exactly as he was instructed by Red Bull like in Brazil and this race to only benefit them by allowing breaches of the sporting regulations to stand.

https://www.racefans.net/2020/10/11...fety-car-was-used-to-make-race-more-exciting/

“There’s a requirement in the sporting regulations to wave all the lapped cars passed. So from that point it was position six onwards that were still running. Between 10, 11 cars had to unlap themselves. And therefore the Safety Car period was a bit longer than what we would have normally expected."

 

[OutlawQuadrnt]

According to Will Buxton, Latifi has actually been getting a lot of crap on social media due to his crash, which is pretty silly.

Latifi is another victim in all of this. Yes, he made a mistake on the track but the chain of events afterwards magnified it far more than it should have and were completely out of his control. Horner's comments about giving him free Red Bull were flat out dense and just made it worse for him.

 

[Terronium-12]

Wonder if any of the drivers are wondering, "Could that happen to us in the future?"

This is the thing that everyone arguing that the "right person won" seems to completely miss. No one is arguing that Max didn't deserve the win. No one that argued for the decision being overturned did so to spite Max (though some did, I'm almost sure of it).

I'm completely of the opinion that Max and Red Bull did nothing wrong. The problem is entirely on Masi. He's the one that freely interpreted the rules to create a scenario that shouldn't have happened. And if he can do that this year, what the hell is there to stop him from assuming the role of "F1 racing god" and creating future scenarios that create "spectacle" and manufacturer race results that otherwise wouldn't have happened?

That's why Masi has to go.

 

[pumaATTACK]

They should use Masi's words and sporting regulations in their favour, hopefully they go through with it as it will be make it a bit more interesting to see FIA get a bigger spotlight on them that they need and hopefully leads to reform. Can't be having rogue race directing not even listing the names of all the drivers chosen (Might as well put only cars in front of Max are allowed to unlap themselves). Carlos could have easily taken the race lead like when Esteban did when Max launched his car like a missile to try and get past Lewis once again and blocking Lewis's exit. Unbelievable the race director did as exactly as he was instructed by Red Bull like in Brazil and this race to only benefit them by allowing breaches of the sporting regulations to stand.

https://www.racefans.net/2020/10/11...fety-car-was-used-to-make-race-more-exciting/

View attachment 1099334

But ONE RACING LAP Micheal!!

Somehow that’s motor racing

 

[LeGeNd-1]

I have a gut feeling Lewis is going to pull a Rosberg and announce retirement this week. All his social media channels have been total silence since the race. It would be a total micdrop and F U to the FIA. Let's see how popular the series is without its biggest star since Schumacher.

He's got nothing else to prove. The sport that he loved so much and gave so much to just straight up offered him as a lamb for slaughter just for extra views and money. Why bother anymore? Why spend all that effort and have it all taken away at the eleventh hour just so the bigwigs can have some extra 0s in their bank account.

Go do what Alonso failed to do. Win Le Mans. Win Indy. Dakar. DTM. BTCC. Super GT. Super Formula. V8 Supercars. NASCAR. Formula E. Maybe even WRC. If he can win at least one race in each motorsport category that will cement his legacy as the greatest racing driver of the modern era, possibly ever.

 

[UnkaD]

I'm just hoping the new technical regulations do help with the on-track ability to put up a better fight. I really feel like what's ultimately responsible for all the questionable tactics, misjudgments and ugly drama by drivers, teams, and even race officials somehow, is that a driver can only follow and pass with a huge 2-second pace advantage. (Well, unless they're Bottas.) There's that real desperation to keep position above all else because they know as soon as the other car gets by it's pretty much race over, no matter how many laps are left. There is no way to make it back up later.

 

[O604]

Why is Latifi being blamed?

If anything, scrutiny should be on Pat Symonds. I doubt he has done anything wrong. But he was previously banned for this.

 

[McLaren]

I have a gut feeling Lewis is going to pull a Rosberg and announce retirement this week. All his social media channels have been total silence since the race. It would be a total micdrop and F U to the FIA. Let's see how popular the series is without its biggest star since Schumacher.

To be fair, all of Mercedes F1 has been silent. Likely to do with the appeal process; no reason to give final thoughts until everything is sorted & they've likely instructed Lewis to do the same.

 

[NotThePrez]

Latifi is another victim in all of this. Yes, he made a mistake on the track but the chain of events afterwards magnified it far more than it should have and were completely out of his control. Horner's comments about giving him free Red Bull were flat out dense and just made it worse for him.

Indeed. Horners comments (like most of his comments this year) were just super tone-deaf to the greater situation. If there's any driver that truly doesn't deserve incredibly bad press after this, it's Latifi.

In regards to Hamilton calling an early retirement, I would be incredibly sad, but I also wouldn't blame him. The sport that he truly loves, that sport that he has greatly sacrificed for and poured countless hours into becoming an expert at, the sport that, for the majority of his career, he has championed as being in-reach for motorsport hopefuls across the globe, majorly betrayed him, as well as every other team (even though they may not realize it), driver, and fan involved. Whether it be the FIA, Masi, or the individuals above Masi, someone allowed the established rules to be changed on the fly which, if nothing else, likely deals a major blow to the trust that Lewis (and any other driver or team) has with the governing body/stewards that they are operating with the integrity of the sport in mind, even if that means making calls that negatively effect them from time-to-time. I certainly would be questioning what I'm doing if such a thing happened between myself and the higher-ups that I otherwise trusted in my own job. I would 100% say the same thing if this exact scenario played out with any other driver involved.

A part of me kinda hopes that if Hamilton walks away, he cites the FIAs decision as a major factor. Losing Hamilton by itself would be a major blow to the FIA/stewards, but if he were to put them on blast (as they rightfully should be) it would be a very deserving blow to their credibility, given the absolute circus that the stewards office has been this year. If he decides to stay, I hope that Merc builds a monumental car, allowing Lewis (and/or Russell) to just wipe the floor with everyone as a big middle finger to those involved.

More than anything, I hope the man's ok. It's unusual for him to be inactive from social media for this long, especially at the end of a season of racing. Apparently Nicolas has mentioned during one of his live streams that Lewis hasn't been talking to him or many other family members after the race. Considering how big of an upset this was, and how much he values and champions for good mental health, I hope that no matter what, he's doing what he can to think things over healthily.

 

[pumaATTACK]

I have a gut feeling Lewis is going to pull a Rosberg and announce retirement this week. All his social media channels have been total silence since the race. It would be a total micdrop and F U to the FIA. Let's see how popular the series is without its biggest star since Schumacher.

He's got nothing else to prove. The sport that he loved so much and gave so much to just straight up offered him as a lamb for slaughter just for extra views and money. Why bother anymore? Why spend all that effort and have it all taken away at the eleventh hour just so the bigwigs can have some extra 0s in their bank account.

Go do what Alonso failed to do. Win Le Mans. Win Indy. Dakar. DTM. BTCC. Super GT. Super Formula. V8 Supercars. NASCAR. Formula E. Maybe even WRC. If he can win at least one race in each motorsport category that will cement his legacy as the greatest racing driver of the modern era, possibly ever.

I would say Max would more than replace Lewis for popularity.

 

[GroupB]

As much as I'm baffled with what played out at the end of the race... I actually think it was Mercedes themselves that cost Hamilton a chance at winning, they had a car that was fast enough to overtake on track but were too scared to give up track position ? They had like 3 chances to bring in Hamilton to give him fresh tyres, I really don't understand why they were too scared ?

Probably because they were trying to minimize the wheel-to-wheel with an increasingly desparate driver who had nothing to lose by causing a “racing incident” double retirement.

 

[Terronium-12]

I have a gut feeling Lewis is going to pull a Rosberg and announce retirement this week. All his social media channels have been total silence since the race. It would be a total micdrop and F U to the FIA. Let's see how popular the series is without its biggest star since Schumacher.

He's got nothing else to prove. The sport that he loved so much and gave so much to just straight up offered him as a lamb for slaughter just for extra views and money. Why bother anymore? Why spend all that effort and have it all taken away at the eleventh hour just so the bigwigs can have some extra 0s in their bank account.

Go do what Alonso failed to do. Win Le Mans. Win Indy. Dakar. DTM. BTCC. Super GT. Super Formula. V8 Supercars. NASCAR. Formula E. Maybe even WRC. If he can win at least one race in each motorsport category that will cement his legacy as the greatest racing driver of the modern era, possibly ever.

We were talking about this earlier. I still stand by him sticking around to see what the new regulations are like, but I really hope he doesn't bounce out of F1. Someone would definitely spin it as him taking his ball and going home because of one loss to Max, completely ignoring the FIA 🤬 fest.

 

[pumaATTACK]

More from Danny, language warning but it is bleeped.


Wonder if any of the drivers are wondering, "Could that happen to us in the future?"

Rules to favor their golden boy has to effect everyone else.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

To be fair, all of Mercedes F1 has been silent. Likely to do with the appeal process; no reason to give final thoughts until everything is sorted & they've likely instructed Lewis to do the same.

Nicolas said he hasn't even spoken to Lewis as he was not picking up his phone and Lewis is also missing the tyre test so understandably has hit him quite hard when you do so much right and then get the race manipulated like that in unprecedented style. There have been so many other unjust decisions too this season again favouring only one particular driver.

I hope Helmut and Max get their wish of stewards acting more fair as they will see a rapid increase of penalties coming their way if they don't change the way they go racing. Lewis has been having to avoid that Prost Senna Suzuka style of clash all season as well as an aggressive brake test. If it was Sebastian he was racing at the front then I very much doubt he would be world champion as he would rarely finish a race as Seb doesn't back down to Max to send across a message.

One thing that amazed me by Lewis is his awareness which is not an easy thing to do. So many drivers would have crashed out on both Max's overtake attempts on Lewis this race by turning in as normal given he was so far back. Good to see he cares about his car his team worked so hard to build and health. At the end of the day it is just a motor race, other things are more important.

 

[NotThePrez]

We were talking about this earlier. I still stand by him sticking around to see what the new regulations are like, but I really hope he doesn't bounce out of F1. Someone would definitely spin it as him taking his ball and going home because of one loss to Max, completely ignoring the FIA 🤬 fest.

Oh, absolutely. However, I've generally noticed that those kinds of individuals tend to hold Hamilton to a double-standard anyways, so they'd look for any excuse to take a dump on him, regardless. Of course, they don't realize that what happened to Hamilton 100% could happen to their preferred driver if they were in the same situation.

I'm actually a little upset (though not surprised) that Ferrari and McLaren aren't protesting the race results, too. While I imagine that Ferrari in particular don't want to do anything that could benefit Mercedes, the call at the end of the race did screw over one of each teams drivers from achieving a better result.

 

[Grayfox]

He knows the best thing he can do now is focus on the next race and the next season,

Next year is going to be a reset.
Sure Mercedes will make a damn good chassis as well RB

But next year Lewis wont have a Slave to "Surrender" positions without question.
Russell is damn fast and he will also challenge Lewis, as will Max and the rest of the grid.

Next year throw so many wildcards out their.
HAAS may even be somewhat good as they've spend 100% of their time focusing on next year.

 

[pumaATTACK]

Next year is going to be a reset.
Sure Mercedes will make a damn good chassis as well RB

But next year Lewis wont have a Slave to "Surrender" positions without question.
Russell is damn fast and he will also challenge Lewis, as will Max and the rest of the grid.

Next year throw so many wildcards out their.
HAAS may even be somewhat good as they've spend 100% of their time focusing on next year.

Lewis doesn’t need a teammate to surrender positions.

Max sure as hell needed one to defend and cover pit stops though. Such a wonderful driver!!