2021 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX

[Dr. Pain]

What a fucking mess! That was just a terrible end to a safety car.

[nutty]

HAAHHAHAHA YES! This is going to be some spice

[norbs]

F1 is now like wrestling.

Protests incoming.

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[Dr. Pain]

I am not a Hamilton fan but that was just fucked. Whats the point of a rule book if they do that shit!

[Exar Kun]

Wow, Horner can't complain about the FIA now. That was a gift to the slower car on the day.

[norbs]

I bet it won't stop him Mick.

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[norbs]

So great seeing Toto having another tantrum.

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[nutty]

thats been the best part.

Like he said to Toto then, the idea is let them race, Merc could have pitted under VSC or SC, its on them.. no different to other rounds this has happened this year...

[norbs]

Silverstone, Hungary and Baku. A lot of points gone there.

Oh well. I still don't think we have seen the end of this.

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[Big Kev]

Merc have put in 2 protests.

One that Max passed under the safety car when they were side by side (he might have passed but only for a split second by a couple of cm)
One that the rule on safety cars and lapped cars was not adhered to. Trouble with that one is that this is the rule

“If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message “LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE” has been sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system, any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.

“This will only apply to cars that were lapped at the time they crossed the Line at the end of the lap during which they crossed the first Safety Car line for the second time after the safety car was deployed. Having overtaken the cars on the lead lap and the safety car these cars should then proceed around the track at an appropriate speed, without overtaking, and make every effort to take up position at the back of the line of cars behind the safety car.

BUT the announcement that lapped cars may now overtake was never made (only that specific cars can) so you can argue that the rest of the rule is null and void.

[Big Kev]

I think Merc's biggest advantage will be by saying what if this had been lap 10 for instance. Realistically they would have let all the lapped cars by and probably done 1 more lap under the SC for them to catch up a bit. Just because it's the last lap of the last race doesn't mean those rules should be changed.

[thornz]

As norbs stated earlier, F1 the new WWF?
Wanted Max to win, but that just seemed complete make it up as we go by the stewards?

Do we later find out Latifi was paid by Netflix to put it in the wall to bring out the safety car to give them the ultimate happy ending?

[Big Kev]

Protest 1 - Max passing under the SC - REJECTED

[Big Kev]

Protest 2 - REJECTED.

Max is champion

[Big Kev]

Full explanation.

https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files ... 048.12.pdf

Seems to be 2 keys points. One is that there was a long standing agreement between all the teams to, where ever possible, finish the races under green flag conditions and secondly that the race director is allowed to control the deployment and withdrawal of the safety car at his discretion.

[w00dsy]

Toto reminds me of that video where Hitler loses his shit

[Big Kev]

Mercedes have announced their intention to appeal.

[Exar Kun]

They need to let it go.

Pretty shit that race control effectively decided the championship with a little over a lap to go but it is what it is.

[DarrenM]

That safety car mess was a pretty fucked way to lose a race let alone a championship. Probably why US series close the pit lane during safety cars. I thought F1 did as well for a while?

I was wrong about Perez. Not only was he a factor he's probably why Lewis couldn't pit at the end.

[nutty]

Like I keep thinking back on this, do the people upset about the safety car restart just think we should have finished under a safety car? Like sorry I know I wanted Max to win, but they did the right thing just letting them battle.. What would you have thought if Lewis pitted?

Like yes Lewis had the pace, but they played it safe the whole race, and that cost him. With the L1 incident with Max he bailed super early and got away with it, compare this to last week

Next they covered off the undercut straight away despite having a decent gap/speed vs pushing Max to go longer and having fresher tyres.

Then when he caught Checo, he was super conservative and lost way too much time, like I understand why he did it but that pushed him out of a window of being able to pit under a VSC.

They could have pitting under the VSC, leaving him heaps of laps with a way better tyre, but they played it safe.. and yes the same with the SC, tho that close you assume you wouldn't have risked pitting

[KNAPPO]

That was mental. In the end im glad they found a way for them to go racing and not finish trundling behind the SC. Hats off to Red Bull for rolling all the dice and taking the risks to stay in the game.

Perez. Man I never thought ide see him drive Hamilton that hard when he had to. "He is a monster" indeed. I agree with Darren, he kept himself in play and snookers Mercedes pitting options.

Not unhappy to see Max take the DWC, crazy way to do it but the racing gods were looking down on him today and thats a small slice of karma for 2008 in my opinion. Lewis has now won one and lost one in that final lap for a DWC.

[Scottie]

Precedent had the outright pace of Mercedes in a non-title deciding race decision scenario winning, but this race set a new precedent with use of the safety car and lapped cars. But it was a final race for a championship and I can't blame Mr Massi for wanting to have the race end on a flying lap. The decision over selected lapped cars was surprising, Merc can feel hard done by there.

Who knows what would have happened if Mercedes pitted for softs and Max stayed out. There'll be heaps of 'what if' YouTube videos from this.

Merc pits, max stays out, the same SC and lapped cars decisions, Lewis is champ
Merc pits, SC but no lapped cars decision, Lewis is champ
Lewis stays out, same SC but no lapped cars pass, Lewis is champ

The likelihood of Max winning this was the smallest chance with every other possible scenario. It just makes it feel a little scripted, but Red Bull went for every opportunity, and were better prepared.

[KNAPPO]

[DarrenM]

Next they covered off the undercut straight away despite having a decent gap/speed vs pushing Max to go longer and having fresher tyres.

I was surprised they came in straight away given Max was dealing with traffic on his out lap as well. I can only assume they were covering against the risk of a safety car. In hindsight they should have pitted at the end. But what if the safety car didn't end? They could have been screwed either way.

My beef is with pitting under safety car/VSC. They're supposed to neutralize the race, particularly the VSC, but they often change it drastically making the result more about luck than skill/strategy. I've been burned by a badly timed one in a simrace so maybe I'm just salty about them

[Exar Kun]

The thing is, if the boot was on the other foot, how would Max fans be reacting about this situation?

Merc did everything right and it was luck and a weird decision by race control that handed it to RB. Rushing through only the cars that separated the protagonists was just a free pass for Max.

I still believe Max deserved the championship but in no way did he deserve that race. RB were just throwing tyres on it every chance they got.