Championship showdown this weekend. Will Lewis win his eight title or will Max win his first? All will be revealed on Sunday.
TV Times:
Qualifying Live: 1PM. (Sky Sports)
Race Live: 1PM. (Sky Sports and Channel 4)
Bring! It! On!
I have weird feeling Hamilton might quit after this sh!t show.
I can only assume people who thought that was exciting didn't know it was already over at the restart. Bar Hamilton, taking Max out. Thankfully he didn't.
I can’t see it and I hope not. A fired-up Hamilton eager to settle the score is box office for F1.
When he was asked about next season after the race he kind of deflected in a way that signified staying on wasn't a definite.
Imo, without DRS and two evenly matched cars, Hamilton was never going to go around Verstappen on the outside and Verstappen did a great job of defending his position. The only chance for overtaking was taking a risk down the inside and Max never gave him that chance.
Max outbraked him, took a chance and held his position when overtaking, that's good driving. There's also the question of pitstops and why Mercedes didn't gamble. They played it safe and it backfired.
All in all, they lost the driving and pitstop battle. They can't have any complaints.
that was never o the cards, as Max would be the winner in any case... still max pushing that hard on a final lap he almost let it slide 2 times and powerslid in the final corner so "could" have lost it so yeah it was still exciting finish
I'm wondering the repercussion of this for team tactics and driver behavior going forward. Even how teams approach things.
Something that hasn't been talked about is the remedy assuming Mercedes win the appeal.
Red Bull did not commit any offence -- the alleged mistake was made by Masi and the FIA. So surely the remedy here would be to void the race results, in which case Max would still win based on standings post-Jeddah.
There was vast difference in performance. Any sliding around was Max being hyper aggressive when he had no need to be. That he ran the risk of taking himself out, well...
I’ll be even fairer to Hamilton, I think he had the presence of mind to think ahead to the next straight, if we was ahead then he’s a sitting duck with Max behind enjoying a tow and new tyres, so give the space and tuck in behind on the exit and try and use a tow to his own advantage!
% wise it prob gave him a better chance of an overtake down the line as he had two straights to make an attempt instead of just one had he covered turn Max on turn 5. It was clear that even on the old tyres he had the speed.
Wonder what the odds were for max to win with 5 laps remaining?
Brundle (who I don't really like either) made a similar point. There's really no way to change the outcome here.
They need to ban the team directors in the ear of the race director as its just putting pressure on them.
Drivers and race directors should be handed a copy of the rules at the start of the year and sign a form afterwards that they have read and understand all the rules.
I'm surprised anyone is giving Mercedes any oxygen on their complaints as they have nothing to stand on.
You might have thought you are clever with this comment, but unless you have comments of mine saying I care about the environment, then it's really not.
Just because I highlight Hamiltons hypocrisy when he claims he cares about the climate and then flies around the world, burning rubber etc. doesn't actually mean that I support climate change action.
The team principals talking to the race director is a funny one.
Looking at the last few races it seems ridiculous that it’s allowed. But I think the TV director plays a part too, probably maximising the drama and exaggerating the influence to an extent.
If the principal thinks there is genuinely an issue to be looked at, I’ve no problem with them making their case. But it should end with the stewards decision.
Because then Toto be on screaming about not restarting because 75% of race is completed or something.
What a 24 carat plonker, proves he knows nowt about F1
Gives Michael the chance to make compromise "offers" to the Team Principals too, strange as that seems.
What is the point in rules if race director can make up his own?
Well I would argue they do in this case. But can be dismissed and there is diddly squat they can do to change the result.
Seems to me that you get so far ahead, by fair means or foul that you put it out of reach of any doubt.
That did seem strange, or is that a feature I'd never heard about?
He didn't make up anything. He interpreted the rules as he saw fit, but everything he did was within the rules.
The rulebook is hundreds of pages long. He doesn't have time to open it up everytime there's a controversy and quote it or point out where it says what.
Mercedes didn't know what to do when the safety car came out, whether to pit or not. That's why they lost the race, not because of rules. Its not surprising they'd try to deflect.
Ah so you don’t actually care but you give a **** that people do care.
Got it.
Was it always Horner on the blower to Masi from RB?
I thought he only got involved once when he announced it was him by leading with "Michael its Christian" to ask why the back markers were not being cleared.
Any time the Merc\FIA icon popped up you knew it was toto having a winge and trying to influence the safety of the race.
Think it's usually Jonathan Wheatley from RB to Masi
Isn't the fact they didn't know what to do a direct result of the unclarity in the rules?
Wasn't there a pretty good chance that if he gave up first place, Verstappen would have won behind the safety car?
The rules aren't that clear, but what Masi did was within the rules. Not sure if he had a part writing them although I'm pretty sure the teams could have objected to them before if they didn't like them. Having read some of the rules in the last 24 hours there's definitely a case for clearing them up. But I don't see anything Masi did that's not in the rules. He's allowed call in the safety car anytime he decides its safe. There has to be a limit on allowing cars to unlap themselves, eg if a car was two laps down. As for proceedures and following precedent, Mercedes argued before to let them race, argued for and against safety cars or red flags.
Wolff is trying to bully his way to a drivers world title and thankfully has been told where to go. He's selecting rules he likes and calling it unfair if he doesn't like a rule.
For the sake of the sport and if he truely loved the sport, he'd let it go.
Exactly that. If proper procedure had been followed the race would have ended unders safety car so Hamilton pitting would have handed Max the title. Merc did not strategise on Masi not following the process in the name of entertainment.
Wolff and Merc have been the masters of strategy for the last few years and it is especially grinding on them when RB make a strategic gamble that pays off.
This type of back and forth between teams and race directors / stewards has been going on for ever - just with the TV coverage and access to the radio it is in the public domain and it adds another layer to the coverage / controversy / excitement / frustration ... and of course the ratings and TV audience
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