markb110 wrote:

To be honest I get more exited over 24 hours of Le Mans and 6 hours of the Bathurst 1,000 than watching a predictable F1 race.

Me too, i like the only 2 mechanics outside of the pit also making pit stops safer and more time costly.

Jabberwocky wrote:

I would suggest Liberty Media have exactly the champion they want, everyone was getting bored of Mercedes and Hamilton winning all the time.

Snowy90 wrote:

I get the difference between VSC and VS makes it much safer to clear the track etc... but VSC just neutralises the race and VS effectively makes it a rolling start.

I am sure there is a valid reason i just dont know of one.

Smyles_ wrote:

SteveG wrote:

... Move to Yas Marina and the timing of the crash was obviously not good for Mercedes, but the issue there was down to the race director being a fallible human being and making rules up as he went.

He wasn't making up rules, instead was just so incredibly inconsistent both in this race and across the season. Race director has full control of the safety car so can decide when it comes in even if only half the pack has un-lapped itself.

And I do agree that the race should not have ended behind the safety car when the hazard is cleared from the track.

Quote:

There’s nothing strategic about it, if you give the place back in a way that disadvantages the other driver so that you can immediately take the place back, that’s cheating. The race director and stewards should have clamped down on that the first time that Max and Red Bull did that, then we would have avoided the brake testing and collision incident when he did it again.

Max left an obscene amount of room for Lewis to get passed on the inside and slowed down massively as soon as he was instructed to do so before the "brake test" incident and Lewis decided not to pass (which Max was then given a penalty again for despite it being Lewis failure not to pass).

But why on earth did Lewis decide to sit so close directly behind him? Yes, there was a communication issue between teams and driver but imagine Max having a powertrain failure in which no communication is given to Lewis of Max's decrease in speed and track position...


Click image to enlarge(nobody can say that there was no space given to safely pass)

Also, if you want to talk about disadvantages to the other drivers, Lap 1 Turn 8 Fair move by Max kept within track limits and clearly ahead of Lewis into the corner. Lewis just cuts the corner and the following gaining a lasting advantage with no place given back!?!?

Quote:

... So when Lewis made a move at Silverstone, according to Red Bull it’s no longer hard racing, it’s dangerous driving and pushed to get Lewis disqualified from the race and Helmut Marko even tried to get him banned for a number races. Surely it was just hard racing, and the fact that Max didn’t yield and avoid the collision is the reason he ended up in hospital needing medical checks before being released.

Think you need to go watch that incident again. Max was ahead into and going through the corner, with max giving all the room on the inside, so no he doesn't and shouldn't yield to a car literally behind him - not wheel to wheel. Secondly, Lewis was nowhere near the apex or racing line on that corner (Stinks of Albon Lewis Austin 2020). The fact that you can send your championship rival and leader into a wall, win the race and only receive a 10 second penalty (ie decided Lewis' fault) is comical.


Overall I'd say Lewis "deserved" to win the race based on his pace and tyre deg control right up until the Merc team very much got caught out with a late safety car on shagged, 2nd hand used tyres (they had a fresh set available to put on but instead went with the used hards?!). But, Max "deserved" the championship either way. Need I remind you of Bottas just launching the car down the inside in Hungary wiping out both RedBulls or, the tyre failures in Baku whilst clear of the field?

Some other general points:
- Lewis' bullet proof reliable car in comparison to Valtterti's 4 car retirements and continual engine replacements screams part harvesting.
- The straight line speed difference of upto 27 km/h without DRS between the Mercs and the rest of the pack (including the McLarens which are very quick in a line) which then miraculously disappeared when RB were about to launch an investigation into the Mercs rear wing.


Click image to enlarge(from Valtteri's personal Instagram account)


Generally I have very little respect for Lewis ever since he tried to defeat his team mate Nico Rosberg in the 2016 drivers championship, where in the final deciding race he backed up Nico with several laps to go so that Nico could be overtaken by cars behind handing the win to Lewis.

ibexman wrote:

I don’t know about you guys but if I won a race under those circumstances I would be totally embarrassed

You clearly don’t remember Senna and Prost or what Schumacher would get up to……..when in doubt bulldozer them out…….

At least Max, Lewis and F1 have moved on from that…….