Grand Prix 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion
- Thread starter F1Brits_90
- Start date
Baffled about the race perhaps, but not the season as a whole - was my point.
Fair enough, for me it was the standout most contentious moment of the season, has been analysed to death and there are understandably competing views on it. Mine is different.
Chris Tea
Test Driver
Masi and the stewards made some weird decisions all season long, but the intention here was to let them race, and that's what it happened.
Bear in mind that Checo was able to hold off Lewis for a good while on very used tires. Hamilton did not seem to have half a chance to hold Max off for 2 corners. That made the difference and shows that Max deserved the win...
Bear in mind that Checo was able to hold off Lewis for a good while on very used tires. Hamilton did not seem to have half a chance to hold Max off for 2 corners. That made the difference and shows that Max deserved the win...
Il_leone
World Champion
I will happily play the 1991 British Gp start when Berger pushed Patrese off at Copse when the start was there
F1Brits_90
World Champion
for me as much as Masi can be at fault as he cracked under the pressure. but at this point Hamilton shouldve pitted i thought it at the time. because as been mentioned before you cant gamble that race would finish under safety car. because as been mentioned 1998? Canadian GP i remember how much criticism was about when Hakkinen led fisichella over the line under safety car conditions. so they were always going to try & get a least 1 racing lap. he is under the hotel verstappen just exiting t9. it would have be nip & tuck as well if he couldve kept the lead
but this is Mercedes being ultra risk averse. Mercedes hoped for a miracle but they knew Hamilton was a sitting duck. you have to pit in my opinion may have track position but he had no chance he might as brought a butter knife to a gun fight & at least on new softs he had a fighting chance
they chucked away in monaco 2016 in the VSC & the same in hungary 2021. when the other 9 teams realise it was far too dry & it was a no brainer to pit. but Mercedes kept Hamilton out just in case & he had to pit the next lap & make literal exhausting drive to 3rd when it should have been straight forward win.
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but this is Mercedes being ultra risk averse. Mercedes hoped for a miracle but they knew Hamilton was a sitting duck. you have to pit in my opinion may have track position but he had no chance he might as brought a butter knife to a gun fight & at least on new softs he had a fighting chance
they chucked away in monaco 2016 in the VSC & the same in hungary 2021. when the other 9 teams realise it was far too dry & it was a no brainer to pit. but Mercedes kept Hamilton out just in case & he had to pit the next lap & make literal exhausting drive to 3rd when it should have been straight forward win.
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F1Brits_90
World Champion
he wasnt behind the safety car at that time Hamilton was under the hotel & SC was at turn 1 driving to wait by pitlane exit
Il_leone
World Champion
It's hard to say that Hamilton would have lost track position because Verstappen it was all or nothing he had nothing to lose.
Would Toto lobbied Masi to restart the race I think he would have got the cold shoulder that driver safety comes first
Then Horner would have said there is too much debris on track and imagine Red Bull .protesting the fia are against them
F1Brits_90
World Champion
i believe they were going to try everything to make sure the race was finished under green flag. regardless of everything
as much masi got it wrong, Mercedes got it wrong as well
F1Brits_90
World Champion
not hindsight to me, i said at time he had to pit. bit obviously in the days later ive been able to get the pictures ive needed
to me its this all over again
but if we are talking hindsight & forgive me this thought has literally just popped into my head, this would be 2020 british GP with the exploding tyres. when everyone said that verstappen shouldve stayed out & risked it. but red bull pitted as they it was an option as it all but a certainty that verstappen tyre would exploded as well
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rufus_mcdufus
Champion Elect
If Masi had decided not to unlap any cars, I still wouldn't have been totally surprised if Max would have managed to beat Lewis over the one lap. I suspect the cars in between would have jumped out the way pretty sharpish.
I believe a red flag and restart would have been the best option, followed by either getting a move on with the SC (the. track seemed clear for quite a while) or simply not allowing any lapped cars to unlap themselves.
I wonder if the race director got into a bit of a pickle with issuing the "safety car in this lap" order before all lapped cars were unlapped (if this did happen - I may be mistaken about that). Rules 48.12 and 48.13 together do seem to have some potential problems when enacted out of order.
I believe a red flag and restart would have been the best option, followed by either getting a move on with the SC (the. track seemed clear for quite a while) or simply not allowing any lapped cars to unlap themselves.
I wonder if the race director got into a bit of a pickle with issuing the "safety car in this lap" order before all lapped cars were unlapped (if this did happen - I may be mistaken about that). Rules 48.12 and 48.13 together do seem to have some potential problems when enacted out of order.
A red flag is a safety measure to get the cars off the track because it isn’t safe to keep circulating. Those conditions weren’t given, so Masi and the FIA would’ve been under fire for interfering just as much. The real Mistake Masi did was the five car only unlap nonsense. He should’ve just pulled safety car as soon as the track was clear and let them go.
F1Brits_90
World Champion
but then you get complaints from red bull that it was impossible that verstappen could never overtake 7 cars in 2 laps in the chaos of the start
As others said chances are high they would’ve stayed out of the way and the result would’ve been exactly the same we got or a crash. In any case Latifi crashing all but ensured a controversial finish.
Plus it would’ve been a defendable position for the FIA, finish under SC because there wasn’t time for the full procedure or go with a chance to win. RBR would’ve chosen the later
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There would have been no way that he would have caught Hamilton on the last lap with 5 unlapped cars in front of him. He would simply have gone long before the safety car line and Verstappen wouldn’t have been able to overtake the lapped cars until the safety car line. As I’ve said before, on the whim of Michael Masi he threw the rule book in the bin so he became a tv director not a race director.
Il_leone
World Champion
The 5 cars would have acted as a defense and given Hamilton enough gap to clear
Maybe, maybe not. We will never know. There would’ve been blue flags all around the track and just like Lando the drivers wouldn’t want to interfere. The only question really is whether the lapped cars would’ve allowed Lewis to get a huge head start before crossing the safety car line.
F1Brits_90
World Champion
on another point you could argue bottas cost Hamilton the world title. with his terrible qualifying. then him backing out around the outside of sainz, because if he had been like is the bare minimum for all red bull & Mercedes in 2021. then verstappen wouldnt have a the free pit stop he had
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