New ‘twist’ in Verstappen’s title controversy

· by · in Daily F1 News and Comment. ·

Verstappen’s victory at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is still being talked about and the matter is far from over, with a new, rather laughable, petition launched to protest the Dutchman’s controversial win, thus taking the title from Hamilton.

At just 24 years of age, Max Verstappen became Formula One World Champion for the first time in his young career with a thrilling but controversial victory. The Red Bull driver overtook his rival Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, thanks to race director Michael Masi’s decision to allow lapped drivers to pass the safety car on the final lap.

 

This manoeuvre allowed the Dutch driver to get closer to his nemesis Lewis Hamilton on the last lap, with new tyres. This historic scenario has caused a lot of ink to flow in the form of petitions against the FIA.

Indeed, a staunch Hamilton fan, Patel Gordon-Bennett has created and launched a petition on change.org to denounce the FIA’s decision and change the result of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in favour of Lewis Hamilton.

“I believe that justice was not done on Sunday 12 December 2021 when the FIA Stewards denied Lewis Hamilton his victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. With less than a lap remaining, some lapped cars were allowed to overtake the safety car, which is not in accordance with the rules of F1 sport.

“This gave rival Max Verstappen the opportunity to overtake Lewis Hamilton and win the Grand Prix. If you are an advocate of justice, honesty and fairness, please sign this petition. Leaving this decision as it is will send a very bad message to young people and future racers,” he said in his petition, which will reach the 50,000 signatories mark shortly.

 

Clearly, this particular fan was born on another planet, perhaps one where wishes really do come true and we all live in a world of cotton candy and eternal happiness. One who perhaps doesn’t share such delusions is Red Bull boss Helmut Marko who said FIA race director Micheal Masi had every right to restart the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the final lap.

“One must also credit Michael Masi who wanted to finish the race under racing conditions,” said Marko.

“With IndyCar or NASCAR, for example, there is a rule that they even add a lap so that the race can be finished under racing conditions. There were five cars in between and he just sent them away, so that you could drive this last lap. It’s like the referee, he has the right and if he decides like that, then that’s valid.”

 

 

 

221 responses to “New ‘twist’ in Verstappen’s title controversy”

    • Another deluded Hamilton fan says something and the tortured horde resonates with the usual cry of ‘robbery’
      Glad to see you lowlifes still still being tortured through the holidays…
      Bitter cheers?!

      • People like me big fan of F1 will be put of watching F1 racing from now on because of last minutes changes to rule. Ps Lewis Hamilton was robbed of is 8 world title

        • if you ar a real f1 you know that things like this happens. in the past it has happend enough times, so its just bad luck besides that.its just one title. they have 7 already. if Lewis was a real racer he would come back next year and proofs that hes better by beating max

          • I’ve watched f1 my whole life, I’ve never seen rules circumvented and broken by a race director on the penultimate lap to rig the results like that. Under the letter of the law the safety car had to come in on the lap after the cars unlap, this means it had to come in on the final lap and no-one can overtake until after the finish line. If rules and laws were followed, Hamilton legitimately won the race and was robbed by what can only be called match fixing.

          • That was one of two ways Verstappen only chance of winning that race , either Hamilton crashed out or Verstappen getting help from the steward.

          • “if Lewis was a real racer he would come back next year”, you really think he has to come back next year to be considered a real racer, then you obviously just don’t like Hamilton and are looking for any excuse to hate on him. Verstappen got a *victory. Yeah he won, but it’s a technicality victory, a freebie.

          • I find this all total BS
            The reality is one driver was allowed fresh tyres that gave him the win. Is they both remained on the same tyres at the point of the crash then it would have been a little more fair.

            Massi should be sacked and the FIA should be ashamed of stealing a title away from Hamilton

            Red bull had accepted the position quote hornet they needed a miracle

            That came by the crash but more so one person massi allowing his own rules and worse red bull even changed tyres.

            They should have told Hamilton to change tyres then no one could argue.

            FACT

            HAMILT9N WAS ROBBED
            AND ITS DUSGUSTING THAT IN SPORT TODAY ANYONR COYKD SEE THIS AS FAIR

            HAMILTON ACTEF WITH DIGNITY DID VERSTAPPEN ACT THE SAME IN THE LAST RACE.

            No he walked off like a spoilt child. Hornet I use to respect but again he has acted disgracefully

          • Haha… next time try to wait untill you’re sober before commenting. Hamilton/Merc had three opportunities to change tyres. They refused. Had they done it during the yellow, Max would not have pitted and the situation was exactly mirrored. Ham would easily have passed Max then. Merc blundered and they know it. And Max was indeed not very sporty in Jeddah. Of course Hamilton wanted to show he can do betrer by hiding for 3 weeks now 😂.

          • He never left ,he has nothing to prove. ,
            Should be 8 titles .
            Sacked Masi is proof Lewis was cheated .
            History shows us many nasty drivers have made profit from dangerous driving .
            The new FIA president is a game changer and will clean up F1 rules .
            Lewis will get his Eighth title .
            Dirty Drivers will be punished rightly .

          • If Hamilton had win the race do you think it was fair if we wins like that behind the safety car ? Mercedes had made a mistake not to bring in Hamilton to change his tyres when latifi crashes

          • Lets be honest, wether you like lewis or not, only a moron truly believes max won that race. Lewis was approx 10seconds ahead, with 5 backmarkers between him and max that lewis had over-taken during the race. Masi; under pressure from Horner, FIA, Liberty applied the rules to suit the situation hence a Max win. The FIA & Liberty wanted a Max win because of his huge European following (bums on seats, more money) doesn’t wear a rainbow helmet etc. Who’s to say had the backmarkers between max and Sainz in 3rd place been removed that sainz would not have drafted the both of them and won the race. It’s not Max’s fault but in reality he is the plastic F1 champion.

          • First and foremost when that redneck of Benny ecclestin was saying things about Lewis not winning for the 8th time I knew it these white folks are about to play dirty. So it’s not a surprise they robbed him of his title. My biggest wish is he remains in the sports to get that 8th title so they that hate him will die gradually out of jelousy and anger

          • Anyone that knows F1 knows Lewis couldn’t pit, it’s always favours guy in second place, if Bottas was closer, he would probably not pitted. Mr Masi knew there was only one result by what he did and he was out of his depth making a rash decision for the spectacle. No matter how FIA try to cover up this fact, it has damaged F1’s reputation. He chose the champion and as they had favoured max all season except Saudi Arabia, no surprise he did what he did. He only got it right in Saudi because of the uproar from Brasil, where again Max broke the rules and got away with it. They keep saying Max had more wins, had the race been run fairly, they would have jad equal number of wins. All this has done, is made a mockery of F1 this year. Forget us Lewis fans, what about all the people who bet on Lewis winning the 8th championship. This had massive financial implications too. Only two ways to finish this race fairly and everyone knew it, Ref Flag so everyone could change tyres, or follow the rules as played out in every similar scenario.

          • he throws his toys out the pram if he doesn’t get his own way well done max for beating him

        • Masi said to wolf ” it’s called racing ” it’s not called racing when you give an advantage to one team or player. It’s not called racing when you wipe out a 12 second lead and a 8 place buffer of other contestants. It’s not called racing when you, for the sake if entertainment or worse for the sake of drama ( netfkix) you alter rules or go against norms. That last lap was not called racing.

        • Are you a big fan of F1 since what Year? LH may BE a good racing driver but surely is no Saint. Too bad angelas witchcraft is not working anymore. Karma played its part and the end result of the season was fair overall. If your favourite driver loses his 8th Championship and you feel offended, you can stop watching F1. Riccardo admited he is a sore looser, at least he is honest. But crying Over a Lost 8th Championship? XD

      • Only lowlifes here is your comment and the judge who lives on planet redbull, been to many balls ups by the steward’s,max won lewis lost I accept that,but I still don’t know why masi changed his mind,unless it was for liberty media entertainment,it certainly wasn’t for F1 fans who prefer fair racing without steward and team principals intervention

        • Thank you I was thinking the same thing. After 35 years of following this great sport attending over 20 GP’s it saddens me to experience the toxicity that has infested our F1 discussion groups.

          I said from the outset it was not Max fault he dud what was required at the end. He is a deserving world champion.

          I have issue with the Pressure that myst have been on Masi at the end of an epic season to have a finish not behind a saftey car.

          Clearly through commercial, FIA pressure and inexperience, Masi failed to follow the long established rules or precedent and as such Lewis was grotesquely penalised, more than any other driver. I say that because its a fair assessment given what was at stake when he was clearly the head and shoulders winner of the Abu Dhabi GP.

          Its worth remembering that all parties RBR, Mercedes, fans and the worlds press agreed, the winner of the showdown would be the worthy champion, either of them definitely would as they were on a different level of driving skills to anybody else in F1.

          On that day in Abu Dhabi, the driver who stood out was Hamilton and that should not be forgotten. He drove a peerless race of a champion and was robbed but not by Max or Redbull but by a single person who decided to play out a different ending, perhaps without realising the consequences.

          I hope 2022 is as compelling but that the FIA learn from this poorly orchestrated race end but also poor officiating during the season and bring binding clarity to the rules so we don’t have to endlessly debate this on our forums.

          The team principles need to set a better example also, as their behaviours have been unbecoming of leaders in organisations such as these.

          Finally I hope the true F1 fans re-establish themselves on these Forums. It’s time the Trolls and fair weather drop ins were exposed and driven out as they are destroying what used to be civil conversation and informed discussion, where we had appreciation for all the teams and drivers and could have a favourite without needing to insult each other or other teams and drivers.

          This is way out of line and dangerously tribal.

        • It would have been fair if both toto and Christian left race control alone. The lap before it was clear to release lapped cars. That’s why vettel and few others where asking why it wasn’t being done. But a lot of Lewis fans took that as them making comments to a conspiracy of unfair play against Lewis.

        • The rules are in the name, SAFETY CAR, you do not overtake it, until it is SAFE. In the name of safety, you don’t force other drivers off of the racing circuit at least twice during the race.

        • The biggest problem wasn’t rules… it was toto & Christian banging on at rave control… all season long. If they were left to it that lap cars could have been let go the lap before and there for nobody could have said a word about anything. Besides… let’s be honest merc we’re more to blame than anybody… even Lewis kept questioning the call jnder VSC and SC to being left on old tyres. If people are so convinced he was that much faster why can’t they see if merc had put him behind max and max on older tyres Lewis would have won. I can’t understand why people are not banging on about that issue.

          • Lewis 12 seconds ahead .
            Masi f up .Red flag all day long .
            All cars pit .
            Race start from the pit lane in correct order!
            Lewis on new tyres
            Max on part worn tyres
            Winner takes all.
            Lewis would win unless max crashes into him .

      • People have short memories Mercedes tried their luck all season illegal rear wing in Brazil should of been 1 race ban..Ham breaching yellow flags no punishment..Ham impeding fellow driver in practice no punishment…Ham shunting max off at Silverstone to collect 25 pts no punishment…Bottas shunting Max off at following race Ham collects 25 pts no punishment…Ham falling over 30 lengths behind Max on parade lap No punishment even Vettel received a penalty for only 15 lengths….Fia were bias towards Mercedes all season only not on the last lap of the last race…KARMA 👍

        • Sadly you seem to forget red bulls bendy wings maxs inscresions against many other drivers redbulls season long moaning about Mercedes marko and horner batching about all n sundry and as lewis fell 30 lengths behind max on a restart it wasn’t a parade lap but going to the grid for a restart and as maxs mate Masi stated to whinger horner its Not a parade lap!

        • FINALLY SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS THAT RACES ARE RIGGED SO LULU CRYMILTON AND TOTO CRYWOLFF WIN ALL THE TIME!!!! THERE IS HOPE!!! NOT EVERYBODY IS DELUSIONAL YOUR COMMENT PROVED IT!!!! YOU ARE A REAL OPENED-EYES FORMULA ONE FAN AND I RESPECT YOU BRO FOR THAT!!!!! MAX MAX MAX MAX MAX MAX MAX MAX SUPER SUPER MAX MAX MAX MAX MAX MAX SUPER SUPER MAX MAX MAX ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

          • Tim, quite obviously F1 is too complex for you to understand, maybe you should concentrate on something a little more easier to understand, maybe table tennis is more suitable for you

          • imagine you leading me from start & you tripped just before the tape & I’m celebrating like I did it on my own, YES I’d be happy because I won but I know that I was getting my ass kicked before my opponent tripped & in this case Max got a chance to change tyres plus a spot & you have the effing gall to talk about fixed .Do you hear yourself ???

          • That’s fine but when the rules are changed on the fly then that’s somewhat different to tripping up, Hamilton did not nothing wrong and was whipping Max’s ass until masi decided to change the rules

        • If it had been max in front and they had favoured Hamilton you and Marko and Christian would have been complaining like mad just like they have done all season !! Max is a great driver and deserves to be world champion but behind the seances he cart be happy that he had help through a misguided Michael Massie who will never fill the seat of his predecessor!!! The whole season had problems on both sides. The fairest way was to stop the race and restart with equal tyres. No doubt the Max fans won’t like this but I wouldn’t want to win a title that was manipulated by the FIA or LIBERY!!!

        • Hi Bob Bellendy just like to say thank you got it spot on. I think Lewis has been crying too long now he’s met his match .He’s had it is way too long now let’s hope next season cars are the same and then we’ll see the best driver win.

          • And what about the Flexi wings that red bull have been pulling out of the garage at strategic points in the year for as long as as they have been in F1. Yes some people do have short memories

        • You’re clearly a fanboy and not a racing fan. You also have clearly demonstrated that you have no clue about f1 or the rules of f1. Pick a new hobby and leave this one behind, it isn’t for you chief.

          FYI: the saftey car restart is not the “parade lap”. There is no distance requirement for a safety car restart. If you were an actual f1 fan, you’d know this and not repeat the max fanboy cry baby list.

          • What you fail to realise here is that all of those incidents were binary when it comes to the rules, the stewards either thought he was guilty, or not guilty. There was no changing of the rules to give the required outcome. Rejoice in Max’s F1 drivers title but it will always be regarded as tainted and as such, not worth anything at all.

        • Take the y off the end and your surname is dead right. Not a Hamilton fan but what happened in Abu Dhabi was the biggest sh*tshow in f1 history. I’ve watched it for 40 years,haven’t watched a single race this year,it’s a massive joke now.

      • You will still be a cocksucker with max versteppen taking a faults championship the only way he could win is by Michael masi bending the rules to support Max

      • After the injustice to Lewis in that last. I feel the people that run F1 living in dream land if they think that result fair.

      • Orbeenga’s comments only show an unpleasant and very childish attitude.Any intelligent person can see the injustice of the outcome without resorting to insults. The situation can only be resolved by rational people studying the rules and decisions involved.
        Brian.

        • Common sense says that Lewis was 11 secs ahead before the crash. Everything fell into Max’s hands, change of tyres, safety car, overtaking lapped cars. Any other sport in the world doesn’t allow favours like this! Imagine a marathon runner is 11 secs ahead with 100 meters to go and the 2nd placed runner started with 100 metres to go and wins. Impossible and thats a similar analogy to Hamilton losing this race and World title! Rules were broken! Very surprised that Mercedes haven’t made a legal claim for losses as they and Hamilton were mugged and robbed! Total disgrace!
          Doug

      • Boy are you deluded and or blind to the rule bending by Massi to give Red Bull what they demanded-the removal of the 5 back markers!! What Massi did off his own back was to rewrite the rules to placify Red Bull demands!!
        The rules are quite clear, all lapped cars are to be released to join the back of the grid-note the word ALL cars, had he of done that the race would and should have ended behind the safety car.
        IF Red Bull were so certain that their new soft tyres would out run Mercedes 50 lap hard tyres on that one lap shootout, why then did they pressurise Massi to bend the rules to suit Red Bull’s demands? I shall tell you why, by the end of the long straight Lewis would have had a clear gap to Verstafen heading for home-fact, and quite rightfully Lewis WOULD AND SHOULD have won his 8th F1 GP World Championship!! IF you had watched the Abu Dhabi F1 GP then you would have noted prior to the incident the gap to Lewis was 10.5 seconds+ -unless Lewis had crashed out or a tyre had given way, there is no way he could or would have caught Lewis, Verstafen was on used soft tyres-NOT New Soft Tyres, any advantage he had would soon deteriorate as laps progressed, and Red Bull themselves knew this!! I stand for fairness and not The FIA, Media Promoters and or Red Bull changing the rules to satisfy The Media /RedBull last lap fightout demands!!!! For xxxxx sake Lewis had over 10.5 seconds gap to Verstafen-and what happened was fair, just or perhaps legal???? Really really really-I do not think so!!!
        Yes I am a big fan of Lewis, and Mercedes-credit where credit is deserved, in the past I have also supported Ferrari, Mclaren, and Williams-even had a fleeting admiration of RedBull-the way they have treat drivers in the past finished my admiration…..

      • Rules were broken and circumvented to allow max to win. The result therefore is not legitimate and cannot possibly be seen as such by anyone with half a brain. Due to when the cars were allowed to unlap the safety car had to come in on the last lap by the letter of the law, this means Hamilton wins under the safety car as no-one would be able to overtake until after the start line which would of been the end of the race. Anyone thinking the actual result is legitimate is delusional, what happened is akin to match fixing. It will be amazing if Masi keeps his job.

        • This is the first time am hearing that a rule can be changed in order to pervert justice. FIA for that matter. A respected organisation. What a mess

      • Your what we call a scham bag
        I hope similar action happen to you in your life
        This is try he only way you’ll see the dishonesty that took place……..Bitter Cheers?!

      • You talking about 7 against 1. Who is deluded? You think your little piece of shit-breaking-every-drinving-security-rules will ever come up to Lewis level? You must more than deluded. You must be braind damage. Seek medical assistance man… you might end up raping and murdering someone with this much hate in your heart. I feel sad for you, really

      • Shut the fuck up you dumb motherfucker if Lewis would have won it y’all would’ve committed suicide and start planning how to take it away from Lewis. If that wouldn’t work, then you max fans would kill Lewis. As simple as that. And the fact that you are glad that we still feel robbed and sad for what happened is a prove that you are a cunt at the highest level. And btw we were robbed, Lewis was robbed, Mercedes was robbed. Do we cry? No, we are laughing at the another shit RedBull season in 2022. But as a gentleman(opposite of you)i want to congratulate Max fans for this achievement and i hope you will get many more moments like this. And happy new year as well. All from me dumbass, think about what have you wrote and be ashamed of yourself.

      • I’m not saying that Hamilton has been robbed, but where did the 11.9 seconds advantage of Hamilton (before the Safety Car) has gone? It was melted away, and I’m not sure that this was fair, because you want the fastest driver to win. In this case, the faster driver was 11.9 seconds in front of the second best, regardless of their names.

      • Of course if it was the other way around and Max was robbed you would say nothing, give me a break!! Another Max fan living in the ‘Max is a worthy champion fan’ bubble. I’m not a Lewis fan but I am an F1 fan and this fiasco has shamed F1 and made it a laughing stock. Races should be decided on the track and with 2 laps to go Masi decided to go against his own rules and hand it to Red Bull. Red Bull will defend Masi’s actions only an idiot would expect otherwise but for the rest of us in the real world it was a disgraceful thing to do. The Max fan club can deny reality in their bubble but everyone else knows who the rightful champion is and Lewis fan or not everyone else won’t consider Max a worthy champion until he wins the title fairly and not with the help of the FIA but given driving fairly isn’t in Max’s playbook I won’t hold my breath. You want to talk about whining then look no further than Max’s actions at Jeddah, what a childish brat where in contrast look at Lewis after he had been robbed, he was gracious and stoic, now that is a real champion!

      • Lewis Hamilton, was and is a true sportsman even in defeat.
        More than I can say for some of the bitter posts sadly

      • Lol….I wil do same for Verstappen and it will get more votes… What’s the point?! Stupid….

      • Ooohhh nooooo. Stop stop this at once.. We all know know tha Helmut, Masi and Horner all all in the same bed ever night looking after everyone in and around their sorded little life’s,, time to move on,.

      • Your deluded old boy, Little Jack Horner and Meghan Marko enabled Maxident to steal a world title that should have gone to Mickey Messi🤨🙄🤣😝🤪

    • Some fans need to look into themselves. How can you change the rules in the middle of a competition. MAX is no champion he has no class. He his just a bully.boy following crooked Horner.

    • 1st. Masi should go because the F1 fans will never trust him again.
      2nd. Give Lewis the tital he deserves.

      • No he was not! Get over it, Vestappen won and Hamilton is a sore loser. If it was the other way around and Max was in the lead and Hamilton had capitalised and changed his tyres, he would have done exactly the same thing. Would he dispute the rules and decision made, no, he would not. Lost all respect for Mercedes and Hamilton.

        • Apart from two post race interviews Lewis Hamilton has not uttered a word about the result of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. I find it really strange how there are literally thousands of people, including you, that bleat on social media that he is a sore loser. Where is the evidence?, there isn’t any because it’s not there. Social media is a great platform for anyone to say what they want, truth or not. Toxic

        • Dumbass. No one has objected to Verstappen changing his tyres; but rather; Masi the dingo; changing the rules on the last lap.

      • Max verstreppan new well fine he cheated to get past Hamilton and you can bet your bottom dollar the .an who stopped the race had a lot of .on versteppan to win

    • The big issue, as I understand it, is that Masi said no lapped cars would be allowed to pass. Had that not been said, it _may_ have been that Mercedes would’ve made a different decision about tyres. However Masi later changed his mind, after Red Bull ranted at him, and let cars pass that, had the safety car not been out, Verstappen would’ve had to pass normally before he’d have had any chance of catching Hamilton.

      A fairer decision would’ve been for Masi to stick to his guns about the lapped cars, pull the safety car in when he did, and make force Verstappen to pass them, as well as Hamilton. It may be that Verstappen would still have won, but I’m fairly sure that a lot of people would be more accepting if that had been the case.

      FWIW – I’m no fan of Hamilton, in fact, I can’t stand the guy, but I think he was robbed.

    • As far as I’m concerned Lewis Hamilton won his 8th title and unless that is made official despite watching F1 for over 50 years I will never watch again. The rules were totally ignored which is the only reason Max, who I believe is a dangerous driver was declared the winner quite wrongly.

    • Nic Brown MOTORSAVERS CORBY LTD .
      Age 64 ….. F1 Fanatic from the age of 5. Never seen sutch a Curcus ,OUT OF ORDER Regs Bent to suit the Dutchman .Both Drivers bring the Sport alive and riveting racing , But Lewis was Robed .I will not watch F1 again if I know that the back room Boys can change the events on the last race on the LAST lap of the season.
      Please Race boys but get the rules set
      Thank you OLD Nic.

    • As Christian horner stated they needed a miracle for max to beat lews, well it came by the hands of Masi. unable to make a decision, not sticking to safety car rules by all cars to unlap themselves ,
      and not just cars between max and Lewis, max on fresh tyres Lewis hadn’t a chance in h*ll. if incident hadn’t happened Lewis would be champion Lewis was so far ahead of max, max never would have court Lewis. controversial win by rules breached.

    • Nascar and Indy car have had those green white checkered rules in place for at least 5 seasons. They didn’t just come up with it on the fly the Masi did it. I’m a Hamilton fan but I also recognize that the race is over and the championship won’t change hands again until the end of next year. But it is incredibly unfair the way these men decided to move the goal post. They don’t have any credibility for what they have done. If you really think about there should have been more teams protesting this race. Especially the ones who didn’t get to come back around and line up properly and those who didn’t get their lap back also. The whole garage was cheated and they cared not to protest because they wanted to see a new champion even if it sacrificed their integrity.

    • Is racing and it was a great one lap race Hamilton could have pass Max but he chicken out so stop crying Max is better driver and Hamilton have a the better car he need a longer straight and drs to pass Max. hamilton a no so good the only way he can win races is with the fastest car and drs.

      • Have you actually watched F1 before? how could he have chickened out of passing max when he had used hard tyres and max had new softs? Fu**in Di**head

    • Ok so let’s say it was a good way to finish .a race on the track .but how do you explain lewis tyres .if he had been instructed to pit for fresh tyres then it becomes a fair contest . Verstappen will only end up being the loser .he is not photogenic and hes a reckless driver .nothing to add except if he had offered his hand to hamilton and agreed to share the championship just like the jumpers in the olympics his profile would be so much better .

    • Lewis Hamilton was 100% robbed and Michael Masi should be arrested.
      First, a breach of H&S. Under no circumstances cars should be allowed to passed a safety cars.
      Secondly, l believe hands has been exchanged somewhere.
      Thirdly, rules and policies cannot be changed in a matter of seconds.
      Michael Masi should be arrested and all his family and close friends needs to be investigate if they recently have money in their bank accounts or in their homes.

      This is very serious issues and it’s far from over and l also sense Prejudice and discrimination.
      Thanks. Harrison

    • Lewis was never going to be a loud to win the title, if he had come in for new tyres, & Max stayed out & was in the lead, Do you think Michael Mase would have let the five cars between Max & Lewis un-lapped themselves. No chance, the race would have finished behind the safety car & Max would have won the race. How ever which way you look at it, Lewis was robbed of Victor, I’ve watch F1 over 25 years & never seen anything like this, rules changed on the last lap to fix the race. This is bad for Sports & true F1 fans.

      • “Lewis was never going to be a loud to win the title,” – A loud – allowed. Not only are members of the Ham cult morons, most are functionally illiterate…. bwahahahahahahaha

    • Totally agree and the pretentious little boy who has shown he can’t drive unless he pushes his opponents off track.
      He should be stripped of the title he is insulting all the previous legends by saying he is a world champion

    • Verstepping in pooh, I have never seen a more dangerous Formula 1 driver, there’s driving to the limits and overstepping the boundaries if you actually look back over the season there have been numerous situations where his driving has been dangerous to the extreme and to be honest he should have been banned from the sport. If it hadn’t have been for the Halo in a previous race Hamilton could have been seriously injured or even killed. Verstepping in Pooh isn’t a great driver , he’s just a dangerous driver and at some point he is going to cause a serious accident with the way he drives and the only way to prevent this is by banning drivers who deliberately drive in a dangerous manner to be banned from the sport.

    • I think you are right and I also think that Micheal massi should be sacked for his decision I also think that Lewis Hamilton should be handed the championship he was obviously in favour of max verstappen

    • I agree and I think the free pit stops under the safety car should be banned as it gives an unfair advantage

    • If anything a similar rule change to the nascar/Indian car rule of green, white, checker should be introduced even if it means adding on extra laps. Also to point out is the completion yellows which close up the field and leads to more exciting racing..

    • Nobody was robbed or giving anything.
      It stared with the choosing strategy of Mercedes Team with the first virtual safety car to keep track position and not pitting for new set of tyres and gambling that the races will finished with no incident.

      When Latifi crashed the first thing that Toto sad to Massi was no red flag please, he got it than he choose again to not pit Hamilton because of track position. Even Hamilton sounded disappointed.

      What Team Mercedes told me with their chosen strategy is that they did not think that Hamilton had it in him to come back if he loose track position.

      Meanwhile RBR did pit both times.

      Mercedes new that the other cars needed to overlap but we’re counting that this would take so much time that the race will end with a safety car.

      The only thing that they did not count on was that Massi could make a executive decision and lapped only the cars before Max and call the safety car in. Because he wanted it to end in a race and there is nothing wrong with that. Nobody pays to watch a car racing championship ending with a safety car.

      One more in my opinion this petition should have reach 1 million in 1 week and not almost 50 thousand in 4weeks

    • Nothing wrong with finishing the race under race conditions. Just give Hamilton the 12 seconds he’d already gained and do the right thing.

      • I’ll informed max fanboy garbage. He has to pay tax in the country it’s earned. So whe he races at Silverstone he pays UK tax on his earnings, it really is a simple concept, I’m sure you will get it when you’ve finished your education

    • When christian moaned about mass original dicisison to stop them over taking he changed the dicisison to suit max and that crap Mercedes were better althrough the race way in front and yes max didnt take the win from Hamilton it was masipa and Horner and anybody thinks different there deluded.

      • 🤣🤣🤣 yeah very good. The majority of the world are deluded because you say so. Not exactly showing anything other than you don’t like it when things aren’t of your liking and in that scenario the rest of the world are messed up in the head.

    • Fair point, referees decision, like in football. Offside in one teams half, ref awards other team a penalty. That’s about the equivalent- think that would go down OK?

    • Absolutely accurate. Masi gifted the race and world championship to Verstappen when, under any other circumstances, it was about to be won by Hamilton. A shocking and hideous end. If Max had driven and won fairly I’d had been the first to celebrate but this WC isn’t and never will be his in the eyes of very many F1 fans.

    • Lewis Hamilton is a sore loser and has done loads of tricks before like this and gone on to win.
      Max has taken the championship fair and square so all you people that don’t like it can go crawl under a rock.
      I’m glad that Hamilton has lost as he is so cockey .
      Why did his team mate Bottas stay way behind?
      I’ll tell you why …. because Hamiltons car was much faster so it’s not all about the driver.
      Ha bloody ha to hampster ,he has lost so shove it.
      About time someone else has taken the limelight.
      Well done Max you are the boy.

      • I notice none of Hamilton wingers mention the fact Hamilton cheated at the very first corner . He went of the track and max stayed on . Hamilton still hasn,t given place back. If that not cheating then what is . It’s the Merc car that wins for Hamilton. Not Hamilton . Every race tail ender George Russel got one race in the Merc and showed how useless Hamilton is by almost winning the race three times . Hamilton will never be in the league of Schumacher who twice in his career took the worst performing teams from the bottom and put them on the very top . Hamilton just went to the best performing team with the best car and just drove.
        The race is not just about driving but also about TACTICS . Mercedes ignored two pit stops where they could have changed tyres and that’s what cost them the championship. RBR got tactics spot on. Masi for knighthood Toto Woolf should be sacked for bringing sport into disrepute by his childish action on the day

        • What a short memory you have – Watching Drive to Survive, Hamilton has had his fair share of blame for crashes in including one with Ocon where he apologises fully. No mention of Hamilton’s dirty driving at Silverstone, for which he received the mildest of punishments, even though he was guilty. He stole the championship at that point, in my view

          • Strange that when max pulls such a move it’s hard racing, Lewis does it and gets a penalty. Max had loads of room to back out and chose not to, his own fault he crashed

    • Over 40,000 people signed that laughable petition and it was heading to be the highest ever petition ever set up.by a private person. A ll that will happen is the same as happened after Rosberg. Look what happened then.Next years cars will be very different to drive it will make life interesting

    • Lewis lost the title when he screwed up his brakes on the restart after Max’s Baku retirement, or finish better at Monaco. Lewis also broke his car by driving too aggressively in Austria and finished 4th.

      Lewis lost the season before the final race.

    • Your talking crap Lewis was faster all race than Max. Its not Maxi’s fault or Lewis’s. It was the race Director Michael Masi.Made a farce of the whole Race. Masi Should be sacked. And Charlie would be turning in his grave, about the outcome of Abu Dhabi.

    • Why does the writer give examples from NASCAR and IndyCar as to why this was an ok decision? Are they unaware there are different rules in different sports.

    • Earlier on in the race Hamilton got away with cheating, Max pulled off a great overtake and Hamilton had to leave the track or apply the brakes hard. I had no issue with Hamilton leaving the track but the rules state that you need to rejoin the track at the earliest point possible. Not only did Hamilton keep the place that he had just lost, he was able to cut the whole corner of and again about a 2 second lead. Hamilton then used the superior power of the Mercedes to sail off into the sunset.

  2. Massi, Verstappen’s and Red bull show the class that the
    y are belong, they have not morals and values and sportmanship!!!

  3. For christ sake shut up winger and accept the decision getting past a joke Hamilton is a driver and if he accepts the result why can’t wingers like there is about SHUT UP

    • “laughable”” living on another planet” biased pathetic article. Old man Marco s comments are not correct… He has no legitimate view only biased. After 30 years I am finished with World Wrestling show. Without doubt an illegitimate champion.

    • Funny. And cheating ferrari was ok for you? Or schummi, prost, senna driving into their opponent deliberately. Well … bye… we will miss you 😇

  6. The fact the writer ridicules someone’s opposing opinion shows this to be a completely bias site. Anyone who has watched f1 for linger than a voucher of years understands that ‘formula’ means a certain set of rules/regulations. If those aren’t followed then it is no longer a ‘formula’. By the way, in case you didn’t know Max is Belgian by birth and therefore is a Belgian citizen. He only has Dutch ‘dual’ nationality because of his father,……which doesn’t mean he’s Dutch.🤣🤣

  7. In fact Merc made three errors during this GP

    First, when Max have enter to change his tyres the first time Merc asked Lewis to do the same. But Lewis had still an excellent pace and could have run ten more laps

    Second, later on the race Lewis asked to enter to change his tyres. Probably that he was feeling some vibrations. The team say NO

    Third under the SC, seeing Verstappen comes in to pit Merc should have done the same. Hamilton had old tyres. The team decided not to asked Lewis to pit

    RBR did not win this GP. Merc had lost it.

  8. A tainted win for Max due to whinging red bull team getting race director to change rules to suit them and it paid off. False win. Hope their new car and engine keep breaking down next season, would be justice.

  10. Maybe they have the right to do whatever they want because they make the rules that dosent make it right as the article said

  11. I’ VE watching formula one for 30 years or more, it’s the worst decision I ever known. Lewis Hamilton was robbed ‘ naked ‘ how much you paid Michael Masi ?
    I didn’t know you could buy a championship…

    • You clearly haven’t watched F1 for 30 years. You sound more like an arm chair fan who is just butt hurt because Lewis lost out. I’ve seen many more events, decisions that have been up there for madness. And to then top it off with being paid off comment…. that shows you aren’t veteran fan of F1.

  12. If this happened to red bull you would still hear Christian (Massi) Horner for the next 12 months. Disgraceful dicission Mr Massi, you’ve made a mockery of F1 and their rules.

  13. Funny how shortsighted and shallow the HamiltonHorde is. They keep wining about rules being broken but this is actually not the case. Every step Masi took was legal. Some were unusual. But not illegal. The only outcome the HamiltonHorde accepts is having the race finished under yellow (speaking about ‘giving’ a championship 🤣).
    There was no reason to finish under yellow however because the track was clear. Masi could have let lapped drivers unlap themselves sooner but the outcome would have been the same because Merc did not pit as Rober explained perfectly. Had Mercedes pitted, Max would not have and the situation would be exactly opposite. Ham would then have easily passed Max on his fresh tires and won the race. But… Merc did not. Not the first but certainly the last strategic error they made in 2021.

  15. Karma is a bitch… loading for max to lose under such conditions… mercedes could not pit that was not a strategic error,even then the tyres under the first safety car would have been older than Max’s. They would have lost track position. Being that max the *deserved” champion would have been upfront..and the rules would have been favourable,they would have lost. May be pitting bottas was an option but not Lewis. Under the SC rules they were fine. I don’t think strategy is about guessing,it’s about race rule probabilities…

  16. Not a Hamilton fan.
    Attended 20 races in 22 years. Would Helmut Marko make the same comment. If the position was the other way round. Masi needs to be more consistent with the rules. SORT IT OUT Michael please.

  17. You suggest that Patel Gordon-Bennett was born on a different planet and then proceed to quote perrenial gobshite Helmut Marko in defense of Masi’s incompetence, the same Helmut Marko who claimed that Max Verstappen hadn’t used his brakes on the straight in Saudi Arabia 🙄

    You are certainly no judge!

  18. Masi is the referee agreed, but a referee is there to make sure rules are adhered to, they don’t have the authority to make up rules

  19. People have short memories Mercedes tried their luck all season illegal rear wing in Brazil should of been 1 race ban..Ham breaching yellow flags no punishment..Ham impeding fellow driver in practice no punishment…Ham shunting max off at Silverstone to collect 25 pts no punishment…Bottas shunting Max off at following race Ham collects 25 pts no punishment…Ham falling over 30 lengths behind Max on parade lap No punishment even Vettel received a penalty for only 15 lengths….Fia were bias towards Mercedes all season only not on the last lap of the last race…KARMA 👍

  20. If you feel and believe you are a true and fair fan of any sport! Whoever you follow and support?. Putting any personal emotions of bias aside. It is just a sport and remain as that, JUST A SPORT! Whoever wins? So long as it is in a fair and competitive manner! May the best man/women win.. But to blatantly rob! a sportsperson of there achievements qualities and capabilities! It should at least play on your Conscience that something just isn’t right! Again if you still feel you are a fair and impartial judge of sport and put favourites aside. Then call it for what it was….Wrong!!

  21. You suggest that Patel Gordon-Bennett was born on a different planet and then proceed to quote perrenial gobshite Helmut Marko in defense of Masi’s incompetence, the same Helmut Marko who claimed that Max Verstappen hadn’t used his brakes on the straight in Saudi Arabia 🙄

    You are certainly no judge!

  22. Lewis was robbed. The only people who think it was fair racing are Helmut Marko, ‘we only need one more lap” Horner, Red Bull Racing, “the FIA are against me” Max (nothing to do with me i dont push cars off the track) Max fans and ‘I love Max’ Alsonso (please can I have a Red Bull seat because ill never win another f1 championship). Masi should be sacked for under performance, the whole season he made strange decisions

  24. I don’t know why people are all tits up about Lewis Hamilton losing,at the end off the day all teams had a choice to come into the pit lane to change tyres when the safety car came out if Mercedes and Lewis decided to stay out because they didn’t want to lose grid position,it’s there call,red bull were smarter than Mercedes,the thing is Lewis Hamilton did not have the bottle when the pressure really came to light,it was one of the greatest f1 seasons Max just tips the balance through the season and deserves the championship, let’s wait until march 2022….

  26. I wonder how Red Bull would have reacted if Hamilton had won under the same circumstances. Well done Lewis the best man won on the day!!!!! Absolutey not they would have cried foul along with alot of other profanaties. Just remember Verstappen was 35 points ahead at one point and yet on the final day they were equal says alot ??? Max will be recorded as the champion but its not a worthy win and nothing to be proud of. From a F1 fan of 40 years, but not any longer.

    • RB bwould probably react the same. Winnipoo. As would all the fans. But what is really laughable is al those ‘fans’ that threaten to not watch F1 anymore. Do those nitwits really think they make a point there? Liberty is shitting their pants in fear.
      Bye friend. Thanks for all the fish ! 😂

  28. We need the same rules in the Premier league. If a team are many points clear and are running away with the league title we should draw the top two teams level on points and let them have one winner takes all match. Finish the league under competitive conditions. Not for relegation candidates though as it cannot be the same rule for everyone. This seems so fair and anyone who disagrees is just a cry baby.

  29. If the most competitive year ever in the history of F1 had ended under a yellow flag, do you not think most of the world’s F! fans would have been pissed? So, no matter what Massi did, lots of people were going to scream bloody murder. The people who are doing the screaming now are mostly British; the rest of the world, not so much. Has it occurred to you that on the final lap Lewis was in the lead: He had a shot at holding off Max but he was unable to do so, perhaps because his pit did not bring him in for new tires. So, who’s fault is it that Lewis did not win? Lewis himself, the pit crew, Massi? People who live in fantasy want to believe the later, because to face the fact that Lewis could not get it done, or that his team had failed him would destroy the illusion.

  30. Mercedes has to check the last communications in Abu Dhabu between Latiffi and his team . The crash which brought the last safety car could certainly be a deliberate action .
    F.F ( Fairness First )

    • Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

  31. It’s not just about Hamilton and Verstappen.
    Why was Carlos Sainz denied the right to race on the last lap.
    He may have had no hope but he never even had the opportunity as the decision to only remove 5 of the 8 lapped cars (the 5 between Max and Sir Lewis) left two as a buffer between Carlos and Max.
    Would it have made a difference? Possibly not but whether it would or not the decision by Masi to allow Max to race Lewis clearly was disadvantageous to Carlos Sainz who was not given the same opportunity. That is patently and obviously unfair and meant Masi’s decisions gave Max an advantage that was not applied equally.

  32. They should of red flag let them pit and cleaned up the mess and then do a standing start that would have been fair

  33. If the FIA had followed the rules exactly the lapped cars would have been let go on lap 56 and the race still would have restarted. Hamilton still would have lost. He got caught out by a safety car, that’s how it goes. Stop whining about it.

  34. I’m finished with f1 after 40 of watching it’s manipulated and fixed and the rules are a farce. How disappointing and frustrating for the fans and how can verstappen accept the championship knowing the result will always be questioned.

    • And after 40 yrs of watching you had no problems with Ferrari using an illegal engine? Schumacher, Senna and Prost deliberately driving opponents from the track? The highly questionable reign of Ballestre in the eighties?…. Weird…

  35. The fia are like kids you are not telling us what to do if they think the outcome of that race was right they have just ruined f1 for me and they should all resigned and get a new lot in and the people who follow f1 should decide how to run it not the crooks they have there now what a shame the last rase was are the fia not looking at the posts thay get

  36. 40 yrs from James hunt at Brands hatch up until the last race I have lived F1 I have not looked at sky406, since.. mad me so cross I couldn’t sleep..how the Mercedes team feel… sack massi

  37. I notice the Hamilton fans Have conveniently forgotten how Hamilton cheated at the start. He was completely off the track and max stayed on yet Hamilton has not given the place back yet. The StewARDs Favoured Hamilton by not ordering him to give the place back. Hamilton is not the best driver. It’s the car that won him the championships. George Russel(who is normally at the back of the field)stepped in for Hamilton in one race and he almost won the race three times over. he was leading and then had to come in for some problem and then went back out and got to the front again and almost did the same again. Hamilton made sure Russel didn’t get a second stint in the Car cause Russel showed him up something ..Hamilton ignored two chances to change tyres and that’s what cost him the racespectacular. . RAcing is about driving but also about TACTICS and red bull tactics were better on the day .Masi deserves a knighthood for giving the fans a spectacular race. Toto wolf should be sacked for bringing the sport into disrepute on the day by his childlike behaviour

  38. Sir Lewis wasn’t robbed from the championship. Championships are won over a complete course of a season. Sir Lewis robbed himself, he could have been champion, he didn’t take it. Nobody to blame but himself.
    As for letting them race the last lap of the season? Karma for Silverstone.

  39. Patel Gordon Bennett?? It’s a exclamation we say when something crazy, ludicrous happens. So GB lighten up, put a lid on it , get a life! It is what it is. Had it been the other way around I very much doubt so much discussion would be going on. Hamilton might be less arrogant and full of himself next season. About time he dumped the silly hair and earrings.

  41. I’m dazzled how people want to change the rules of the sport. Would be something if the Germans would demand their lost world title of 1966 back with a petition as well. Because George Hurst his goal was not a goal as everybody knows by now. But the referred decided differently.

    It’s becoming something of pathetic. Go on with your lives, it’s a new year, new cars and some new drivers. Hopefully this year it will be a great competitive year equal last year.

  42. The result of the race was not Max or Lewis Fault. But the rules were not followed and you can’t change or bend them during a race other wise the sport is open to corrpuption or is seen to be corrput. And the comment about IndyCAR and NASCAR is that they have a RULE that should be followed but in F1 the rules were not followed

  43. Firstly TheJudge13 is like any other Max fan where the facts don’t matter and in their ‘Max is a worthy champion bubble’ everything is fine and dandy. However, in the real world everyone is appalled by what is probably the worst and most controversial decisions in F1 history which hasn’t only shamed F1 but made it a laughing stock. I’m not a Lewis fan but I respect his talent as I do Max but I do think Lewis is a great champion whereas although a great driver Max behaves like a brat and is reckless and dangerous on track. Compare the reaction of Lewis in Abu Dhabi (stoic) to Max in Jeddah (Sulking and whining). If Max wasn’t so arrogant he could learn a lot from Lewis. Also to dispel a couple of myths, Max had by far the fastest car in the first half of the season so credit Red Bull and Max built up a lead but then Mercedes found more speed and Max’s response was to try and drive into LH at every opportunity, aka Rosberg. Like a true champion LH brought it back to level by the last race while Max continued to whine. In the last race with all the driving done and Horner saying they needed a miracle Masi decided to give him one. To dispense with all those that said Toto made a mistake with 2 laps to go LH decided to hold his position which as an ex driver, I and many other drivers would do the same. Max way back in 5th had nothing to lose and no one could have foreseen Masi going against his own rules effectively gifting it to Mac leaving Lewis a sitting duck. Of course Lewis and Mercedes were outraged, who wouldn’t be can you imagine if that happened to Red Bull!! The problem is they care about F1 which as a result is severely damaged so they opted to accept it which was both gracious, sensible and unjust at the time. No one is denying Max is champion but races should be won on the track by the drivers and not in the stewards office, this wasn’t racing it was politics and anyone who thinks this was a fair result is an idiot. Outside of the Max fan club, Max won’t ever be seen as a worthy champion unless he wins in fairly and without FIA intervention. Given that driving fairly isn’t exactly in Max’s playbook I won’t hold my breath.

  44. Why does judge 13 say “clearly”? Does everyone want to live on planet Narcissist?
    Concern doesn’t live there, and Karma belongs to Providence.

  45. Point of view depends wether your a Max or Lewis fan, but had the last 3 laps finished behind the safety car, with Max no chance of challenging for the win, only Lewis fans would think that was the fairest outcome🤔

    • There couldn’t be winners on all sides here. Season was too intense… was best ever. And tbf I actually liked that he tried to get it finishing as a race. Really should have released all lapped cars the lap before. It was actually a clear track. But toto & Christian were probably the cause for the delay. Ideally a red flag… allow both to change tyres, keep safety at front of all and let then both on new tyres duke it out last couple laps

    • Remember SPA in the rain, where all drivers had to follow the Safety Car for 2 laps with NO OVERTAKING, Masi called it a RACE and awarded points!

  46. While I can well understand the highly charged atmosphere of the final race of such a close fought championship and the immediate actions in the wake of an unexpected outcome it seems to me, having followed F1 for the best part of sixty years, that there’s an obvious question to be asked. Had the shoe been on the other foot and Verstappen leading rather than Hamilton and the race director had made the same call then would Toto have told Louis NOT TO RACE AND OVERTAKE Verstappen?

  47. Mac was robbed the opportunity of knowing he came up a little short in his title fight in 2021. And the opportunity to learn the biggest lessonfor the rest of his career thay winning the right way is more important than being gifted a title he cheated so hard the whole year for yet still came up short yet he still believe he has to intimidate other drivers out of his way ro get.

  48. Idiot Hermit Murko – we are NOT disputing the idea of finishing a race under race conditions. OF COURSE we would all rather have a finish like that – but teams, i.e. WERE NOT AWARE that the safety car procedure could, or would, be altered in order to give such a finish. Had they been aware, Mercedes would have pitted for tyres. The question I have is: how aware is a Race Director supposed to be regarding what teams are doing with tyres and whether teams are aware he could change the procedure. In my view, he should know about these things for important moments, and had he known that Mercedes were not aware of this possibility, and didn’t change tyres as a result, he would be able to see how much of a stupid or malicious c*nt he was being in prioritising silly last lap racing over racing integrity, and would opt out of effectively deciding the results.

    • Yes but no one mentioned why Perez was told to retire the car he replied why because Horner and massi made a deal and cheated Hamilton out of number 8..

      • Red Bull obviously underfuelled the car to give perez a better chance of overtaking Hamilton at the start of the race.

  49. The amount of bias in the article… But still it is what it is, Masi was wrong, Lewis got robbed yet, Max was phenomenal the whole year, even as a Lewis fan ik that

    • Earlier on in the race Hamilton got away with cheating, Max pulled off a great overtake and Hamilton had to leave the track or apply the brakes hard. I had no issue with Hamilton leaving the track but the rules state that you need to rejoin the track at the earliest point possible. Not only did Hamilton keep the place that he had just lost, he was able to cut the whole corner off and gain about a 2 second lead. Hamilton then used the superior power of the Mercedes to sail off into the sunset. The only bias is coming from you and your blind love for Lewis Hamilton.

      • You are getting to be a bit like a stuck record, how many times have you posted this same tale, 10 times is it now?

  51. The fairest and most logical result would have been for the FIA to declare and admit mistakes were made an to declare the race void and the whole season a draw, having joint world champions even though Max had won more during the season. Just base it on the level points totals. I don’t think anyone would have complained to much about that and the FIA would have saved face and come out in a much better light.

  52. Earlier on in the race Hamilton got away with cheating, Max pulled off a great overtake and Hamilton had to leave the track or apply the brakes hard. I had no issue with Hamilton leaving the track but the rules state that you need to rejoin the track at the earliest point possible. Not only did Hamilton keep the place that he had just lost, he was able to cut the whole corner of and again about a 2 second lead. Hamilton then used the superior power of the Mercedes to sail off into the sunset.

  53. Earlier on in the race Hamilton got away with cheating, Max pulled off a great overtake and Hamilton had to leave the track or apply the brakes hard. I had no issue with Hamilton leaving the track but the rules state that you need to rejoin the track at the earliest point possible. Not only did Hamilton keep the place that he had just lost, he was able to cut the whole corner off and gain about a 2 second lead. Hamilton then used the superior power of the Mercedes to sail off into the sunset.

  54. The crux of the matter is that after Latifi crashed the rules were misinterpreted or misapplied by the race director causing Hamilton losing an 11 second lead, created after he had lapped 5 cars. By removing those 5 cars from in front of Verstappen gave him an unnatural advantage because the race director then restarted the race leaving 2 lapped cars between Leclerc and Verstappen. This meant that Ferrari were denied the opportunity to not only challenge for 2nd place, but possibly the win! The only logical conclusion to come from the enquiry is to declare the race ended at the end of the lap prior to Latifi’s crash, this can be done as 75% of the laps had been completed, it also negates interference from the race director. As to Hamilton gaining 2 seconds on lap one he avoided a collision with Verstappen by not staying on his racing line. If he had stayed on the racing line Verstappen would have been disqualified because the FIA, for the first time all season, warned Verstappen if he caused a collision in this race that would be the penalty. The FIA have bent over forwards to please Red Bull and Verstappen in the 2021 season, and I believe if Verstappen continues with his over aggressive driving in 2022, Mercedes won’t be the only car he collides with.

  55. The rules on the safety car, and when a race is restarted instead, need to be tidied up. Ideally, no rule should be subject too interpretation or flexibility. Massi used his brain in the heat of the moment and made a decision, which it appears he is allowed to by the current rules. I feel for both sides in this argument.

    If the Silverstone incident had happened in this race, what would have happened? Hamilton is, to me, too good a driver for that to have been an accident. It was a calculated ,move which put a driver into the wall at 300km per hour and gifted Hamilton 25 points.

    There is a degree of Karma in what happened

    • Conveniently ignoring the fact that in every single case where Max makes contact with another car, Max expects the other driver to give way to him. Perhaps if the other 19 drivers on the grid adopt this tactic the FIA will be forced to take action.

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