2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina, Nov 18 - 20

[Dee]

Singapore, Brazil, Silverstone, Monaco clearly didn't happen

Singapore - not his fault the team made a mistake in qualifying
Silverstone - his car hit debris and lost performance
Monaco - Checo crashed bringing out a red flag while Max was on a faster lap
Brazil - a bad race but mostly due to a racing incident

Did you watch this year?

Singapore - Braked on the rain patch and went out in doing so
Silverstone - Did a 360 in Q3, was faster than Sainz all weekend, if he put it together he would've been on pole
Monaco - Slower than Perez, Sainz and Leclerc all weekend. Wasn't going to start on pole even if he was improving
Brazil - Contact with Sainz during the sprint. Reckless move on Sunday for an already crownd world champion...

Singapore - The car bounced after making contact with the bump (as seen on tv) and the tyres locked up because of it, Max saved the car from crashing. He did not brake in a rain patch.
Silverstone - Who cares about a 360 in Q3 when you are on for the win and debris destroys your race.. the drivers are not robots
Monaco - Max was going faster than Checo, was on for at least P3, which was the position Checo won from..
Brazil - Sainz was aggressive, which was fine. --- happens. As for reckless, you can say the same for Hamilton, considering he gave Max a lecture on leaving Ocon go in 2018.

[AR3-GP]

Singapore - not his fault the team made a mistake in qualifying
Silverstone - his car hit debris and lost performance
Monaco - Checo crashed bringing out a red flag while Max was on a faster lap
Brazil - a bad race but mostly due to a racing incident

Did you watch this year?

Singapore - Braked on the rain patch and went out in doing so
Silverstone - Did a 360 in Q3, was faster than Sainz all weekend, if he put it together he would've been on pole
Monaco - Slower than Perez, Sainz and Leclerc all weekend. Wasn't going to start on pole even if he was improving
Brazil - Contact with Sainz during the sprint. Reckless move on Sunday for an already crownd world champion...

Singapore - The car bounced after making contact with the bump (as seen on tv) and the tyres locked up because of it, Max saved the car from crashing. He did not brake in a rain patch.
Silverstone - Who cares about a 360 in Q3 when you are on for the win and debris destroys your race.. the drivers are not robots
Monaco - Max was going faster than Checo, was on for at least P3, which was the position Checo won from..
Brazil - Sainz was aggressive, which was fine. --- happens. As for reckless, you can say the same for Hamilton, considering he gave Max a lecture on leaving Ocon go in 2018.

Singapore - he knew the bump was there. It's unfortunate but I somewhat mildly blame the driver.

Silverstone qualy was irrelevant.
Monaco not relevant given the red flag.

Don't see anything in Brazil either. Titles wrapped up and nothing to lose. Under no pressure and the car wasn't fast either. While I would have personally moved over for Checo, I don't see that as a driving or racecraft problem.

[AMG.Tzan]

Hamilton losing Perez time and eventually being the reason Perez never really got into Leclerc’s DRS zone was just so satisfying to watch!

It was as if karma decided to give Checo a taste of his own medicine for trying way too hard to block Hamilton in 2021 and then getting absolutely no help from his teammate in 2022…

Vengeance is dish best served cold Checo! You should have known…

Apparently Red Bull could have easily given Perez that 2nd place in the WDC (not that it means anything) had they just let him through to P1 and let Verstapen take care of Leclerc! But I think Verstapen again was having none of it…

Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…

[Dee]

Hamilton losing Perez time and eventually being the reason Perez never really got into Leclerc’s DRS zone was just so satisfying to watch!

It was as if karma decided to give Checo a taste of his own medicine for trying way too hard to block Hamilton in 2021 and then getting absolutely no help from his teammate in 2022…

Vengeance is dish best served cold Checo! You should have known…

Apparently Red Bull could have easily given Perez that 2nd place in the WDC (not that it means anything) had they just let him through to P1 and let Verstapen take care of Leclerc! But I think Verstapen again was having none of it…

Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…

"Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…"

You seem to not see that glaring difference

Perez was slow and made a valiant effort to keep Hamilton behind him, including slowing him up

Max who was always fast would have had to slow down to then give Perez's direct rival the DRS which in turn would have given Charles an advantage over Checo and an oportunity to go for the win which would have only increased his points over Perez

[AMG.Tzan]

Hamilton losing Perez time and eventually being the reason Perez never really got into Leclerc’s DRS zone was just so satisfying to watch!

It was as if karma decided to give Checo a taste of his own medicine for trying way too hard to block Hamilton in 2021 and then getting absolutely no help from his teammate in 2022…

Vengeance is dish best served cold Checo! You should have known…

Apparently Red Bull could have easily given Perez that 2nd place in the WDC (not that it means anything) had they just let him through to P1 and let Verstapen take care of Leclerc! But I think Verstapen again was having none of it…

Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…

"Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…"

You seem to not see that glaring difference

Perez was slow and made a valiant effort to keep Hamilton behind him, including slowing him up

Max who was always fast would have had to slow down to then give Perez's direct rival the DRS which in turn would have given Charles an advantage over Checo and an oportunity to go for the win which would have only increased his points over Perez

You mean Red Bull made Perez slow by leaving him out until Hamilton comes up behind him...

[AR3-GP]

Who finished runners up in the championship in 2019, 2009, 2003? alright then...anyways!

[zeph]

Tepid finish to a tepid season. Hope 2023 will be more interesting. See yaw next year.

Post-race Norris said Alpine did a better job this year. I beg to differ, if Ricciardo had been on point McLaren would have been 4th.

[Shal_Leg16]

Hamilton losing Perez time and eventually being the reason Perez never really got into Leclerc’s DRS zone was just so satisfying to watch!

It was as if karma decided to give Checo a taste of his own medicine for trying way too hard to block Hamilton in 2021 and then getting absolutely no help from his teammate in 2022…

Vengeance is dish best served cold Checo! You should have known…

Apparently Red Bull could have easily given Perez that 2nd place in the WDC (not that it means anything) had they just let him through to P1 and let Verstapen take care of Leclerc! But I think Verstapen again was having none of it…

Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…

Yahh...perez blocking Lewis in 2021 was fair .

Also there was no chance Max was helping Checo by any sort. The lure of 15th win was far bigger then anything else. be it 2nd for checo or 1-2 for RB.

[Henri]

People saying "Max always gives 110% and is always on it" maybe should check back on 2010-2013 and a guy called Sebastian Vettel!

Was Vettel unstoppable back then?? Yes he was! Did people think that he'll break every single record and be the new Schumacher?? Yes they did. Did Vettel make the other drivers like Hamilton and Alonso look like not being consistent enough to beat him back then?? Yes he did!

Yet, here we are 2022 and Vettel has been bleached so many times since 2013 that he's now retiring, let's say a bit early! Did he forget how to drive since 2013?? No! Did the others get better since 2013?? No! What happened then?? He just never had a car to suit him that much again! That's exactly what's happening with Verstapen right now!

So stop thinking Max is doing something special right now and he's the only one giving it 110%! Great Champions have done in the past, Schumacher, Hamilton, Vettel, Senna, Prost etc! If your car isn't up to the task of winning, you just can't do enough and you end up looking like not giving it your all!

Well said.. in f1 all drivers need a competitive car to compete.. no driver will win a race in a 2022 williams

[deadhead]

I still think he would comfortably beat both, Leclerc is too error prone and Norris just doesn't have his pace IMO.

No he is not error prone.

Max has made numerous mistakes all through this season.
Locking up in Bahrain, Australia.
going out in spain, 360 in Hungary, few qualifying mistake too. its just that he won. nobody talks about winner's mistakes.

I agree. Leclerc made mistakes when he tried to overdrive the car. Like Imola and Paul Ricard. I think he is a the best driver on the grid. Maybe not the best in every category, but his pace and race craft are second to none. Unlike Max(and Hamilton) he is driving hard only when necessary.
If ferrari was reliable and had a strategist, we would had a proper wdc battle.

I agree, if I was team boss I would sign LEC over VER.

Hopefully they can give him a car.

The flexi floor Ferrari was actually enough for a title bid.

[harty71]

To be fair to Hamilton last season, he brought it all on himself, he should have been smarter with his use of DRS and where to pass.

I have a feeling a younger Hamilton would have clicked on, the modern one has been used to having it all his own way at the front.

Still, it was nice seeing him give Perez a taste of his own medicine.

[F1NAC]

Hamilton losing Perez time and eventually being the reason Perez never really got into Leclerc’s DRS zone was just so satisfying to watch!

It was as if karma decided to give Checo a taste of his own medicine for trying way too hard to block Hamilton in 2021 and then getting absolutely no help from his teammate in 2022…

Vengeance is dish best served cold Checo! You should have known…

Apparently Red Bull could have easily given Perez that 2nd place in the WDC (not that it means anything) had they just let him through to P1 and let Verstapen take care of Leclerc! But I think Verstapen again was having none of it…

Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…

"Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…"

You seem to not see that glaring difference

Perez was slow and made a valiant effort to keep Hamilton behind him, including slowing him up

Max who was always fast would have had to slow down to then give Perez's direct rival the DRS which in turn would have given Charles an advantage over Checo and an oportunity to go for the win which would have only increased his points over Perez

Max could easily hold Charles in S3 and then stomp on the gas in S1 and pull 1 second on charles. Easily. Something that Lewis did 2016.

[Big Tea]

Much easier to be 'faultless' when you are not under pressure and pushing the limit.

Comfortably fastest in qualli also usually means less runs so less chance to slip up when there are more cars also 'pushing it', and starting from the front and getting out of the following potential incidents also removes many opportunities for incidents, as does being quick enough for it to be not worth backmarkers or cars in front after pitting holding you up as it is not their race.

Not intended to mean any one driver, just every driver who has a superior car and in in a happy place mentally.

[Sieper]

Much easier to be 'faultless' when you are not under pressure and pushing the limit.

Comfortably fastest in qualli also usually means less runs so less chance to slip up when there are more cars also 'pushing it', and starting from the front and getting out of the following potential incidents also removes many opportunities for incidents, as does being quick enough for it to be not worth backmarkers or cars in front after pitting holding you up as it is not their race.

Not intended to mean any one driver, just every driver who has a superior car and in in a happy place mentally.

True. All of that makes the job at hand easier. I don’t think any car has been comfortably the fastest in qualy this season, like we sometimes saw in the passed, where cars were over a second up and even a large mistake was of no consequence, but overall this is all very true. Especially having also your teammate up there makes the risk even less.

[basti313]

Hamilton losing Perez time and eventually being the reason Perez never really got into Leclerc’s DRS zone was just so satisfying to watch!

It was as if karma decided to give Checo a taste of his own medicine for trying way too hard to block Hamilton in 2021 and then getting absolutely no help from his teammate in 2022…

Vengeance is dish best served cold Checo! You should have known…

Apparently Red Bull could have easily given Perez that 2nd place in the WDC (not that it means anything) had they just let him through to P1 and let Verstapen take care of Leclerc! But I think Verstapen again was having none of it…

Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…

"Also Verstapen questioning if blocking Leclerc would have been fair…
What in earth Max?? Did you forget 2021 already? Oh God, what a hypocrite…"

You seem to not see that glaring difference

Perez was slow and made a valiant effort to keep Hamilton behind him, including slowing him up

Max who was always fast would have had to slow down to then give Perez's direct rival the DRS which in turn would have given Charles an advantage over Checo and an oportunity to go for the win which would have only increased his points over Perez

Max could easily hold Charles in S3 and then stomp on the gas in S1 and pull 1 second on charles. Easily. Something that Lewis did 2016.

No, the Ham vs. Sainz overtake showed that this is not possible. Sainz had easily a second in hand on Ham after passing him, something like 0.6 on average until the first stop, so definitely in the same range as Ver vs. Lec. When Ham let Sai past in S3, he immediately overtook him again in S2 where the Ferrari should be stronger.
You need S3 do gap the opponent by something like 0.6 to 0.7s. If not you are a sitting duck.