F1 Abu Dhabi Race Thread Finale

Race control and stewarding has been all over the place this season, right up to the last lap. They were so close to being able to get one right without controversy and couldn’t seal the deal. Wouldn’t be surprised if this winds up in appeals courts at all…

Either Lewis or Max were to be a deserving champion, glad someone finally broke up the Mercedes run though. Maybe Lewis wins anyways if he has fresher tires for the restart.
 
I understand that quick decisions were made by Massi, but that was to finish under green, and shouldn't all the teams have been preparing incase it went back green again? At the time of Latifi's crash neither Mercedes or Red Bull knew how many laps of SC there would be. It's the classic situation of the leader being the sitting duck. Mercedes chose track position and stayed out under two VSC/SC periods while Red Bull chose tires. That isn't on race control
 
cheesepuffs said:
I understand that quick decisions were made by Massi, but that was to finish under green, and shouldn't all the teams have been preparing incase it went back green again? At the time of Latifi's crash neither Mercedes or Red Bull knew how many laps of SC there would be. It's the classic situation of the leader being the sitting duck. Mercedes chose track position and stayed out under two VSC/SC periods while Red Bull chose tires. That isn't on race control
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Section 48.12
Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.

Race control allowed the safety car to come in and the race to resume prior to the last lapped car unlapping itself. Seems like an obvious screw up that Merc should be protesting. See above ^^
 
cheesepuffs said:
I understand that quick decisions were made by Massi, but that was to finish under green, and shouldn't all the teams have been preparing incase it went back green again? At the time of Latifi's crash neither Mercedes or Red Bull knew how many laps of SC there would be. It's the classic situation of the leader being the sitting duck. Mercedes chose track position and stayed out under two VSC/SC periods while Red Bull chose tires. That isn't on race control
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The way they have done it it’s when there’s a safety car with 5 or so laps there is a chance to have a normal restart. That did not happened here.

too few laps to do it by the book as it were. They messed up.
 
Doc Austin said:
I'm not sure we want the championship decided in the courts. That would be bad precedent.

More on the protest: Mercedes protests Verstappen and result of Abu Dhabi GP | RACER
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Well if something wasn’t done right, I do.

Hamilton had the race won. Last lap, safety car. That about wraps it up. There is no arguing for what happened here other than this was done to spice it up. Literally rule making as the race just ended.

So yeah if it needs to be argued in court, do it.
 
Reck said:
Well if something wasn’t done right, I do.

Hamilton had the race won. Last lap, safety car. That about wraps it up. There is no arguing for what happened here other than this was done to spice it up. Literally rule making as the race just ended.

So yeah if it needs to be argued in court, do it.
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Yeah, this was a bad deal, but if it goes to court, we can look forward to it happening again and again and again. Once you open that door, no one is going to lose gracefully. Everything will be contested.

The FIA needs to do the right thing on their own, I mean, if they want to save what sliver of credibility they have left.
 
Doc Austin said:
I'm not sure we want the championship decided in the courts. That would be bad precedent.

More on the protest: Mercedes protests Verstappen and result of Abu Dhabi GP | RACER
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The bad precedent already occurred with the officiating farce, but all principals will ultimately benefit financially from how dramatic the finish was.

Mercedes should stand their ground for now. On the merits they have a very strong case. In the coming weeks the matter will be swept aside, as the new season with the next generation of cars will require all focus.

That and the Netflix shows.
 
i am not sure what will happen but all I know
is that was an enjoyable piece of motorsports history
to watch. Glad to see Lewis take the high road
after the race. IMO , thats what 7 time champions do.
 
Reck said:
Well if something wasn’t done right, I do.

Hamilton had the race won. Last lap, safety car. That about wraps it up. There is no arguing for what happened here other than this was done to spice it up. Literally rule making as the race just ended.

So yeah if it needs to be argued in court, do it.
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You’re such a baby lol need a tissue?
 
So any onboards of that alleged pass Max made before the white line? If true it’s clear cut penalty.
 
At last restart-

Horner to Max: "Okay I think all the cars ahead of you are going to pass Hamilton. All the cars behind you will stay in position... Yeah so everybody up to Vettel are allowed to overtake Hamilton."

Lewis: "This has been manipulated man."
 
What's done is done, but Hamilton isn't wrong. He cooperated for the ceremonial stuff, and will now let the case play out. That's fine.
 
gnomesayin said:
What's done is done, but Hamilton isn't wrong.
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Agreed, but I don't think the FIA is going to admit that by reversing the outcome. This one is done.

I'll never have the same reverence for Formula One after this. This kind of thing should never happen at "the pinnacle."
 
One thing I don't get is why Hamilton didn't slam the door in Verstappen's face. He just stayed to the outside and left Max a clear path.
 
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