Abu Dhabi GP

[Tosh]

[lights blue touch paper]

I know several of you race. Did the Race Director stuff up letting just some cars through? Im sure LH feels aggrieved to have lost an 11 second lead but I’m sure he’s gained under an SC in the past.

Does feel like the finale was engineered for spectacle but I’ve no clue on the rights/wrongs

[KS]

My take on it all...

[anglophone1]

My take on it all...

Mine too

[Nine One One]

The best man won the championship at the end of the day. If Hamilton had crossed the line first would Red Bull be appealing? They were both fighting hard on the last lap, and it was won fair and square. The pit stop could have gone so wrong for Red Bull, it did not and, paid off.

The Championship needs a new world champion after 7 years, it was getting boring again, and this season picked it up.

[Boydyrs]

Think you need to go to specsavers fella.....even if Hamilton had crossed the line first what could RB complain about.
If FIA had kept the lapped cars in front of Max and let them Race he could maybe have beaten LH to line on new tyres.
Now I would call that racing?

[WRC_1S]

Think you need to go to specsavers fella.....even if Hamilton had crossed the line first what could RB complain about.
If FIA had kept the lapped cars in front of Max and let them Race he could maybe have beaten LH to line on new tyres.
Now I would call that racing?

100% this. Allowing MV to pass those lapped cars was an unfair racing advantage. LH had to pass those cars before the crash instigated the safety car. MV leapfrogged track
Position. If he had beaten LH from behind the lapped cars there would be nothing to complain about. He'd have won fair and square. MV won by race director incompetence.

[hot66]

I'm not a lewis fan, but he did deserve to win that race. It was a farce at the end. Even if Lewis had had to give upo a place early on , he was still obviously much quicker.

The worst thing is , so many non F1 fans would have been watching for the first and this is what they see ! . Even my wife, who never watches motorsport, sat and watched the race and she just couldnt understand how instructions are given to the teams one minute , and then completely reversed the next .. Rules should be rules and not bent to give a the illusion of a racing finish.

I like Max a lot and did actually want him to win ( not a fan of Horner though ) , but this seem like an empty win

[neilbardsley]

I believe the rules said that the lapped cars should be removed but to say one thing and then do another! It was all a bit too engineered for the race finish they wanted.

Regardless of the result I think all the teams must be asking themselves if the rule book is of any use.

I wanted Max to win for a change but Christian Horner is such a moaner. I don't see that the result should be decided in a court that will lead to a even bigger farce but maybe the owners want that because it's free publicity over the winter break.

It's all a joke. Races added in many more countries to the highest bidder. It's very difficult for a driver to get a seat if they don't have serious cash backing. Last week we were racing in a country that killed and chopped up a journalist in their own embassy!! Now we are showcasing their country on international tv

Sent from my M2004J19C using Tapatalk

[johnM]

I believe the rules said that the lapped cars should be removed but to say one thing and then do another! It was all a bit too engineered for the race finish they wanted.

The rule says ALL lapped cars are to un-lap themselves when its safe to do so, and once done the safety car will come in the following lap. If this had happened then the race would most likely have finished under the safety car and Lewis would have been crowned Champ.

Unfortunately it turned into a farce..

[jb]

I am confused as to the real issue.

My understanding was that all lapped cars needed to unlap themselves under the safety car but that would have meant that the race would have been decided under the safety car as there were not sufficient laps left to continue racing.

So my take is that either they should have let everyone unlap themselves which would make Lewis the winner or they should have not let anyone through which does not seem to be the usual rule but would have been fairer than what they did as that gifted Max with the win.

That said they are both superb racing drivers.

[Sam]

So my take is that either they should have let everyone unlap themselves which would make Lewis the winner or they should have not let anyone through which does not seem to be the usual rule but would have been fairer than what they did as that gifted Max with the win.

That said they are both superb racing drivers.

This is what I reckon too.

I’m glad I’m not the race director. He was in a no win situation.

I’m excited for next year though - probably more than I would have been if Lewis had won, so maybe it was all set up that way...

[kitesurfer2]

I think the race director should be sacked. He effectively gifted the race to Max quite unfairly.

[911hillclimber]

I've never been an F! fan wife is
This time I wanted LH to win, an 8th Championship so a record for a Brit.

He was 33 points behind MV some races ago and he took all those away before this race.
He was 14 secs ahead of MV when the safety car came in.

The rule said all lapped car should pass so LH and MV would have to drive through them to the finish.

The race was essentially fixed by the decision made, engineered to be a 'thrillera' for the world to watch. Whooopie!

I actually feel well gutted for LH.

Best team won, the points show it, each team has a gold star it seems after this mess of a race

2022 will be good.

[one-two]

I have no problem with the result or the way it came about. I believe the race director has a limited amount of discretion and chose to use it in a way I can understand. It wasn’t the only thing he could reasonably have done, but neither was it unreasonable. There was always going to be a winner and a loser whatever he chose to do and the loser was always going to say he should have done something different

[911hillclimber]

If there is a rule, it needs to be followed, otherwise it's a bit of a guide, not a rule at all.
I doubt the result will be overturned, too much un do.

The FIA will never say they were wrong so Merc will be distracted by legal work while Red Bull press on regardless.
They win on all levels.

I do hopeLH in the new car can sort it next year.