RIP F1

[Elmer J Fudd]

Well that's it; regardless of who should have won, the race director has interfered, yet again, and "produced" a finish that does no-one any good.

It is as if Suzanne Collins has become an F1 consultant and they are manipulating the rules to suit the outcome they wish to achieve. Whether there is corruption at play can probably never be proven or disproven, however Verstappen's first title will, to me and many others, always be tainted.

For me, that's it. I can no longer take any interest, it has become farcical and no longer about the best drivers in the best cars.

RIP F1

[garyboy]

fake F1
real affront
fake PM
real problems
fake house parties
real sleeze
fake secret santas
real tinsel
fake pandemics
real covid weary
fake passports
real spread
fake integrity
real disappointment
fake new wave of project fear
real smoke screen
fake NHS
real nurses
fake consultants
real undertakers
fake simple burials
real dead
fake police
real victim blaming
fake chinese bikes
real on road costs
fake petrol
real carb problems
fake war
real soldiers
fake threats
real fear
fake fish wars
real n sea fish
fake battered fish
real chips
fake sex
real sore eyes
fake brake pads
real hospitals
fake ambulances
real queues
fake news
real consequences
fake trains
real full standing room
fake ulez
real profits
fake freedom
real autocracy

[Crossrutted]

Well that's it; regardless of who should have won, the race director has interfered, yet again, and "produced" a finish that does no-one any good.

It is as if Suzanne Collins has become an F1 consultant and they are manipulating the rules to suit the outcome they wish to achieve. Whether there is corruption at play can probably never be proven or disproven, however Verstappen's first title will, to me and many others, always be tainted.

For me, that's it. I can no longer take any interest, it has become farcical and no longer about the best drivers in the best cars.

RIP F1

Totally agree.

[Scott_rider]

It did seem a bizarre decision bearing in mind that in many other races the safety car has stayed out to the end because there hadn't been enough time to either clear up a crash or let all the lapped cars through safely. it's a shame for Lewis because he's been robbed and it's a shame for Max because his World championship is tainted, in my humble opinion.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Wasn't it a 'safety car' that killed Senna?

If waved yellow flags aren't sufficient, then the race should be stopped.

[bikenav]

The guy in the office did what he had to do to allow the racers to race over the line, that is what race fans wanted and what racing is about. As it happens the fastest combination (that counted at the time) passed the chequered flag first. I am an ex competitor as are many of you probably, has any motorsport you have been involved with been fair, equal and luck free? Naive to think F1 will be. F1 RIP, I doubt it very much the controversy in the race a week ago made me curious to search for coverage of the dodgy overtakes, and read a little about the Dutch ogre (his first go in a race car was just down the road from me in Pembrey) and then actively search for the results and coverage yesterday. probably rare to have an equally matched pair of drivers in equally matched machines at any given season looking for any slight advantage. One guy was bound to be more hungry than the other and let it hang out a bit more, and a little luck and he won. Motorsport can be a Beautifull Bitch to love uh.

[Elmer J Fudd]

The guy in the office did what he had to do to allow the racers to race over the line, that is what race fans wanted and what racing is about.

The things that should be overriding in any competition are maintaining parity and integrity. That is what the race director should be doing, not creating a one lap race, but allowing, insofar as is possible, the circumstances before the pace car came out to be maintained at the restart. Accepting that Mercedes made a choice not to change tyres is one thing, however manipulating the cars positions on the track giving a clear advantage to one driver and then changing the restart procedure to invent a race lap have together destroyed the parity and integrity of the race.

If the race is manipulated, it loses credence and therefore fans will move away as they are watching nothing more than a manufactured (reality TV-esque) spectacle where the winner is chosen regardless of ability.

[daveuprite]

The guy in the office did what he had to do to allow the racers to race over the line, that is what race fans wanted and what racing is about. As it happens the fastest combination (that counted at the time) passed the chequered flag first. I am an ex competitor as are many of you probably, has any motorsport you have been involved with been fair, equal and luck free? Naive to think F1 will be. F1 RIP, I doubt it very much the controversy in the race a week ago made me curious to search for coverage of the dodgy overtakes, and read a little about the Dutch ogre (his first go in a race car was just down the road from me in Pembrey) and then actively search for the results and coverage yesterday. probably rare to have an equally matched pair of drivers in equally matched machines at any given season looking for any slight advantage. One guy was bound to be more hungry than the other and let it hang out a bit more, and a little luck and he won. Motorsport can be a Beautifull Bitch to love uh.

Good post. I didn't know that Verstappen had been to Pembrey. I crashed there twice, it was my bugbear circuit. I got to know Carmarthen A&E quite well!

As you say, racing is not quite the precisely arranged, perfectly executed level playing field that some people think, despite race control, marshalls, safety cars and the rest. All kinds of things can throw up chaos and indecision, and unintended consequences. Saying that, F1 does now seem to have too thick a rule book - to the point where it's hard for the 'lay-viewer' to follow.

Something else is overlaying F1 nowadays too. Social media. Decisions made on track are being influenced by how they might be perceived on social media. For instance, Hamilton clearly chose to avoid collision a couple of times on Sunday, when he could have turned in on a hard-diving Verstappen and forced a confrontation - but he knows that it would have played very badly for him if he was the one that brought it to a head. Look at the hatred towards Schumacher when he nerfed Hill years back - and that was BEFORE instant judgement on twitter/facebook. It's much worse now. Villains and Saints are created in an instant, and it takes much longer to shed those stereotypes. These young racers are very switched on to how they are regarded and judged on the net, and their reputation matters to them. It surely translates across to how they behave in the heat of the moment on the track.

[Scott_rider]

Taking the personalities out of it, the thing that I find odd is that the race director let the lapped cars pass that were in between the first and second placed cars but he didn’t let the lapped cars pass that were in between the second and third placed cars. I think I’ve got that right?

[Cornishman]

That was simply mathematics. It would have taken so long to clear all of the lapped cars the safety car would already have started the final lap resulting in a procession to the finish. In my opinion the best option for an exciting final lap would have been to have left all of the lapped cars in place meaning that Verstappen with his brand new soft tyres would have first had to clear five blue flagged cars before catching Hamilton about half way around the lap, a real race to the line. Allowing them to start side by side was always going to be a one horse race. Another option would have been to red flag the race allowing the crashed car to be cleared, Hamilton allowed to fit new tyres as well and the two title contenders having a 4-5 lap winner takes all sprint to the finish.