Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by Rodster »

Liberty Media and Formula 1 could not have asked for a better start to the season finale. Mad Max is on Pole by 0.3 secs. Lewis is second on the starting grid. Max is on softs and Mercedes chose mediums for Lewis. Typically it's a one stop race. We'll see if RB decides to under or over cut Lewis or if Merc will do it first.

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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by pk500 »

If history is any indication, Max already is World Champion. The pole winner has won the race every year at Yas Marina since 2015.

That's what happens when you conduct your season finale at perhaps the sh*ttiest of the Tilkedromes, with few overtaking possibilities.
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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by Rodster »

I'm still going with Lewis because of Max's temperament. He at times seems to be his own worst enemy. He was on Pole in the last race until the final corner. Mercedes still has the best engine and Lewis with his wily experience and seven titles seems to handle the pressure a little better than Max. It's Max's race and championship to lose. That's asking a lot from a guy like Max.

My prediction: Lewis 8th title, Red Bull finds something to b*tch about.

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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by F308GTB »

Rodster wrote:
Sat Dec 11, 2021 2:36 pm
I'm still going with Lewis because of Max's temperament. He at times seems to be his own worst enemy. He was on Pole in the last race until the final corner. Mercedes still has the best engine and Lewis with his wily experience and seven titles seems to handle the pressure a little better than Max. It's Max's race and championship to lose. That's asking a lot from a guy like Max.

My prediction: Lewis 8th title, Red Bull finds something to b*tch about.
And the fact that Lewis is starting on mediums, will likely have the pace to stay with Max early on, and manageshis tires better.

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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by Dave »

Rodster wrote:
Sat Dec 11, 2021 2:36 pm
My prediction: ... Red Bull finds something to b*tch about.
This is probably the easiest prediction of all, as an organization they've really shown their *sses lately.

I haven't been able to watch any coverage this weekend, Abu Dhabi has been my least favorite track for years so my hopes are low, but does it look like any of the reconfiguring will have a positive impact on the race?
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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by Rodster »

Helmut Marko is the dog that makes Horner bark. He's the one pulling the strings in that team, not Horner. Those three guys made up by Marko, Horner and Verstappen were made for each other.

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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by F308GTB »

Way to end an F1 season. F1 needs some reform. Inconsistent decisions by race control and stewards all season, not following rules on the final safety car .,, What a joke.

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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by GB_Simo »

Quick take: that's some steaming hot, farm-fresh, hugely odorous bullshit.
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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by pigpen81 »

Wow...watched that live this morning and just wow! Talk about gifting someone a win and championship.

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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by Dave »

What a shitty way for the season to end. Lewis drove masterfully all day, but was a sitting duck after Masi decided partial-rule-following was allowed.

Credit to Red Bull for making the right tire call, credit to Max for cleanly passing Lewis to win.

But that sucked. If you want it to end under green, red flag it and make it a fair fight
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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by GB_Simo »

10 hours down the line and I'm still apoplectic.

What message does it send when you remove the lapped traffic between 1st and 2nd, but leave the bloke in 3rd parked behind backmarkers so that no matter how well he restarts, he's got no chance of having a run at the cars in front?

Why, if you were so determined to let the race end under green, would you not throw the red, as Masi did in Baku? Why, if you insist on a contrived, confected ending that might screw over the man who spent 54 laps earning the victory, would you not at least make it an equal fight?

Most of all, what chance does any team have of effectively planning and strategising when the Race Director has carte blanche to make it up as he goes along?

What a crying shame. Days spent worrying that Max or Lewis (but mainly Max) might ruin a titanic fight for the world championship, and in the end the FIA did it for them.

Congratulations to Max, who won the most races, led the most laps and is a worthy champion. Commiserations to Lewis, who did everything he possibly could have done to win the most points and was enormously classy having seen the grand prize taken from him.
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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by Rodster »

GB_Simo wrote:
Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:21 pm
10 hours down the line and I'm still apoplectic.

What message does it send when you remove the lapped traffic between 1st and 2nd, but leave the bloke in 3rd parked behind backmarkers so that no matter how well he restarts, he's got no chance of having a run at the cars in front?

Why, if you were so determined to let the race end under green, would you not throw the red, as Masi did in Baku? Why, if you insist on a contrived, confected ending that might screw over the man who spent 54 laps earning the victory, would you not at least make it an equal fight?

Most of all, what chance does any team have of effectively planning and strategising when the Race Director has carte blanche to make it up as he goes along?

What a crying shame. Days spent worrying that Max or Lewis (but mainly Max) might ruin a titanic fight for the world championship, and in the end the FIA did it for them.

Congratulations to Max, who won the most races, led the most laps and is a worthy champion. Commiserations to Lewis, who did everything he possibly could have done to win the most points and was enormously classy having seen the grand prize taken from him.
This is perhaps the time to ask, how much is Charlie Whiting missed? Sure he wasn't perfect but he was fair and above all he tried damn hard to be consistent. As others have commented, what we have seen this year has been just the opposite with the FIA stewards. It's almost as if who gets on the phone first and b*tches the loudest wins the argument. I honestly have not watched the race and won't because of the comments posted.

Perhaps Liberty Media is smiling because next year they can advertise F1 2022 Verstappen vs Hamilton "The Rematch". Maybe that's what they were hoping for. ;)

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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by pk500 »

I still can't quite process what I saw this morning enough to write a semi-cogent post. Insanity.
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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by GB_Simo »

pk500 wrote:
Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:46 pm
I still can't quite process what I saw this morning enough to write a semi-cogent post. Insanity.
Fairly sure that makes two of us. Only one of us was daft enough to try anyway.
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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by Dave »

GB_Simo wrote:
Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:21 pm
10 hours down the line and I'm still apoplectic.

What message does it send when you remove the lapped traffic between 1st and 2nd, but leave the bloke in 3rd parked behind backmarkers so that no matter how well he restarts, he's got no chance of having a run at the cars in front?

Why, if you were so determined to let the race end under green, would you not throw the red, as Masi did in Baku? Why, if you insist on a contrived, confected ending that might screw over the man who spent 54 laps earning the victory, would you not at least make it an equal fight?

Most of all, what chance does any team have of effectively planning and strategising when the Race Director has carte blanche to make it up as he goes along?

What a crying shame. Days spent worrying that Max or Lewis (but mainly Max) might ruin a titanic fight for the world championship, and in the end the FIA did it for them.

Congratulations to Max, who won the most races, led the most laps and is a worthy champion. Commiserations to Lewis, who did everything he possibly could have done to win the most points and was enormously classy having seen the grand prize taken from him.
I keep coming back to a couple thoughts:

Lewis had him covered today from start to safety car, in a way he hadn't for most of the yar. Just a perfect race, never put a tire wrong, avoided a dive bomb on lap one, and had pace to outrun Max for days. He closed out the season with a dominant string of races, would have been a legendary show of strength from the could-have-been-8-time champ. Red Bull had no answer for the sheer pace of Lewis and Mercedes.

Masi took the least satisfying path possible. End under safety car and it isn't great, but the car that dominated the day would win. Put out the red flag and we get the shootout to end all F1 shootouts as both cars put fresh tires on to finish the event. At least it doesn't leave one driver as a sitting duck.

Oh, one final thought (maybe two): You know why race control has been involved so much this year? Because one driver has brought them into the picture over and over and over. Even today, on lap one, Max decided that he would make the exit of the corner the apex and drove Lewis off track yet again. I'll give the FIA credit for taking no action--a no harm, no foul call was right--but the spirit of the rule can't be "you can do whatever you want as long as your car remains on track" when there's another car involved going into the corner. Max's style forces action, and I don't see that changing at all. Get out of my way or I hit you. Or get out of my way and leave it in the hands of the stewards. Neither of those are that fun to watch, to be honest. Racing in glorified parking lots certainly doesn't help--try that s*** at Long Beach and you're both in the wall, or at Mid Ohio you go for a ride like Michael Andretti did decades ago. There just aren't adequate consequences for someone driving like a dick like Max.

Sigh, it'll be good on Netflix I guess.

OK, one last -- is Lewis tired of this sh*t? I don't think he'll walk away this offseason, but does anyone think he's enjoying battling Max? Lewis has a lot ahead of him in life and has grown up an immeasurable amount since coming on the scene.
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Re: Racing Season 2021 (Spoiler Alert)

Post by dbdynsty25 »

The irony to me was a Williams car screwing Mercedes and Hamilton. Latifi might need a new ride next year. At least it wasn’t Russell.

This being the first year I’ve followed closely, it baffles me the power of one guy in the middle of a race. And I thought Roger Goodell was bad…at least he doesn’t change rules in the middle of a game.

It’s also really annoying that the principals get on the phone and complain during races, it makes for a ton of whining.

All that said it was definitely drama filled and entertaining. I find it hard to root for either team but then if you pick a lower one like Mclaran and Norris (who I started rooting for) you really only have a chance or two a year to get on the podium. Hopefully the changes next year can level the fields a little more.

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