Helped somewhat by the heated battles between Verstappen and Hamilton seen throughout the 2021 Formula One championship, criticism on race director Michael Masi has mounted. But what next after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?
The simple question is: would you go? Just for a moment put yourself into their shoes. Would you go after what happened?
Lewis acted like a perfect sportsman after the 'race' and he was apparently against the appeal going forward - one can at least give him the right not to appear at the gala where, had the rules been complied with, he would most likely be celebrating his monumental achievement.
It's more honest to not appear than to go there with a fake smile acting like everything is fine.
Last edited by RZS10 on 16 Dec 2021, 14:43, edited 1 time in total.
I'm not sure Verstappen and Horner would be going either had the reverse happened on Sunday.
But it's a good point that the ceremony would become all about them because of the press wanting pictures and quotes instead of what it's meant to be about.
It's clearly not sour grapes as Hamilton turned up in 2016.
So, that's that then. As an MV-fan, I am happy with the outcome, but I also do want to stress this does not make the decisions that were made right. I think Max deserves the championship based on his performance over the year, I do also think Lewis deserved to win the race. Unfortunately there was no way to make both happen.
Furthermore, thanks all, or most, here. I really enjoyed the discussions. Maybe I have a weird notion of enjoyable, but I like arguing, even if the arguments are hard. I hope we can have such arguments again next year (albeit about the usual - track limits, was an overtake legal or not, does component x abide to the rules, is it car or driver - not major screwups like this time). The only moments at which the discussion went from enjoyable to vile were the moments that arguments of intentional crashes, matchfixing, or illegality were brought up, on both sides, mind you. I hope that next times we can do without (unfounded) claims of "illegal cars", "championship robbing by the FIA", "deliberate crashes by Max" (or this case Latifi) or "the FIA pre-arranged this" or whatever. I have no issue with hard arguing, but it should stay respectful. I hope that there is also some recognition that lines of respect are being crossed on both sides, rather than consistently blaming 'the others' for it.
I understand that this is a technical site and that some people do not appreciate the race discussions or driver discussions. I am happy those discussions also take place here. I enjoy reading the technical material but in many cases cannot contribute much, as there is little biotechnology involved with F1 and my CFD knowledge is...taylored to that application. Still, I thoroughly enjoy reading the contributions by others, and occasionally contributing/arguing on the technical parts too. But I also very much enjoy that we can discuss races, drivers, events here, with an audience that is not (in an overwhelming matter) on the side of one team or outrageously biased. Sure, we all have our biases, but in most cases here they are limited and even with biased members the arguments brought forward are, well, mostly reasonably reasonable. Which is far different in most other forums. Of course, the technical discussions and race discussions should be properly segregated, such that people that are here for technical content can shield themselves from intense fan discussions, but from my view more often than not this is the case. The users that are crying out that they are here for the technical content but complain about the whole forum having turned into a rabid partisan cesspool, well, maybe they have a point on some occassions, but mostly I think they still should be able to find what they are looking for - if they can restrain themselves from visiting the race thread. I hope that that is a possibility, such that both people that come for pure technical content, and people that do enjoy a hard-but-reasonable fan discussion every now and then, can find something here.
What else do I hope for? I hope for the 2022 rules to work out well, and leading to close racing with multiple teams in the mix for podiums, race victories and even the championship. I hope that the FIA draw their lessons on the rulebook and do their best to write proactive, quantifiable rules that last a whole season without modification and without controversy, rather than the collection of reactive qualitative rules that can be arbitrarily applied they have now. I hope that we are able to show respect to the drivers, and the drivers to eachother. I hope that Max sticks with the form he had early in the season rather than the last few races. I enjoy fast racing, risky overtakes, even if they occasionally cross the line (you cannot be on the line and never cross it) and are penalised as such. But there have been too many incidents in the last couple of races that should not have taken place. I do not ascribe intent, I ascribe frustration, but that does not make them right. And most of all, I am enormously looking forward to another tense season where the best on the grid can fight eachother to the end. I can't wait till it starts.
The drivers are entitled to race however they want, including Leclerc, Norris, Sainz, Russell, Gasly, Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Tsunoda and Ricciardo. If they make an improper move they will be penalised, if not, then they won't.
For example, in Saudi Arabia, Vettel and Raikkonen had a collision even though neither is exactly inexperienced!
Last edited by JordanMugen on 16 Dec 2021, 14:56, edited 1 time in total.
Why would they attend? They have congratulated Red Bull after the race and again now. The least they can do is boycott this gala to make a statement that what happened is not OK. It would be downright humiliating for them to stand there and act like all is good.
So anyway, who’s ready to see the new cars and for winter testing?
I am- moreso than for a long time. Really dying to see what each team has done by way of interpreting the rules. Who knows what we might see performance wise? Possibly a chance of a 2009-esque shake up.
In many ways, it's a good thing if that has happened. We can hope to see other teams moving to the front with other talented young drivers getting a crack.
As I understand itMercedes didn’t really do much in the way of chassis development this season. If that is the case I expect they will start strongly.
Mercedes and RBR were the last of the teams to bring upgrades, I don't remember at which races. This means they both allocated Wind tunnel time to 2021. If that ends up meaning they're behind next year, I haven't got a clue. I do know they both started with the least amount of wind tunnel time and they used more than most on 2021.
In many ways, it's a good thing if that has happened. We can hope to see other teams moving to the front with other talented young drivers getting a crack.
Remember, it just increases the odds of the other teams having a better year. Doesn't make it so.
With new regs, it just takes 1 good idea for a team to find themselves 1 second a lap up the road from everyone else. I'm also concerned that with a lot of the aero being under the cars, it's gonna make it harder for other teams to copy ideas to catch up. You'll need an accident where the use of a crane is needed to hoist the car onto a flat bed tow truck for photographers to get pictures of the underside.
I am locking this thread as it has descended into a free for all, with everything being discussed and argued, even next years cars, a gala, etc etc. anything but the actual gp. This is supposed to be a technical forum and not a place for puerile trolling.
Interesting scenario analysis by WTF1
If Lewis and Max crashed on lap 58 it would have been Lewis the WDC coz they didn't allow Riccardo to unlap hence Lewis finishing in 10th!
Why??
