Hamilton holds off Verstappen to win tense F1 season-opener

Charles LeClerc puts the Ferrari on pole for the Azerbaijan GP tomorrow, starting alongside Hamilton in the Merc.

Verstappen starts from 3rd.

One last ride into the sunset for the FlexiWing°.

Sergio Perez takes the win at Baku, Azerbaijan, with Vettel and Gasly rounding out the podium. Hamilton tosses it away at the end and Verstappen remains ahead by 4 points in the WDC after a blown rear tire took him out of the race. Red Bull jumps ahead of Merc by 26 points in the constructor's championship.

Lewis takes out Max on the first lap, gets a 10-second penalty, and still manages to take the win at the Silverstone GP. If you want to see F1 cars at their best, Silverstone is the place.

Verstappen still holds a slim lead going into the next race.

No time to watch full races these days, but I'm catching the YouTube highlights after every race. Also enjoying the team radio compilations. And just last night I got completely caught up on Drive to Survive, so I'm basically an F1 expert. Basically.

It's both amazing how often these cars run into each other and even more amazing that it doesn't happen more often still.

http://twitter.com/trackIimit/status/1451643678066421761

Max and Lewis are still running neck-and-neck for the F1 WDC as the championship moves to the COTA in Austin, TX this weekend.

Hamilton recently won his 100th GP, leaving Schumacher in his wake and everyone else waaay far behind.

Here's Max throwing some f-bombs and melting down behind the wheel for a little entertainment. I lol'ed because he sounds an awful lot like I do when I have to drive on Meridian Street.

Max and Lewis are still running neck-and-neck for the F1 WDC as the championship moves to the COTA in Austin, TX this weekend.

Hamilton recently won his 100th GP, leaving Schumacher in his wake and everyone else waaay far behind.

Here's Max throwing some f-bombs and melting down behind the wheel for a little entertainment. I lol'ed because he sounds an awful lot like I do when I have to drive on Meridian Street.

http://twitter.com/trackIimit/status/1451643678066421761

As in Bellingham to Lynden Meridian Street? If so, agreed.

Max and Lewis face off at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi to decide the WDC this weekend.

Win the race, win the driver's championship.

Lewis looking for #8, Max looking for his first.

I think Mercedes has the advantage at this track, so Red Bull is going to have to dig deep to find a way to get Verstappen on the top of the podium.

http://twitter.com/F1/status/1470061591844507649

The final race lived up to the billing. It came down to the last lap, and a questionable call by the stewards at the end to let the lapped cars pass the safety car and have the safety car re-enter the pits on the last lap.

But they did, and this last lap was where the rubber met the road - and now Max Verstappen is the new world champion. Mercedes appealed the race results but were told to pound sand.

Here's the last lap

http://twitter.com/F1/status/1470503796044296192

A summary of the 2021 F1 season.

It's pretty good.

Thing is Hamilton already got away with a massive advantage from cutting the corner, so seemed the teams were even from the stewards.

How totally F1, though, for a championship to be decided by race direction with a safety car decision. Good year overall, though.

Agree. I thought it was one of the better seasons I've seen. When it comes down to the last lap of the last race to decide everything, that's a quality season.

Thing is Hamilton already got away with a massive advantage from cutting the corner, so seemed the teams were even from the stewards.

How totally F1, though, for a championship to be decided by race direction with a safety car decision. Good year overall, though.

Total nonsense, Lewis was the faster car the entire day. He pulled away from Max immediately after "cutting the corner". Massive advantage? Jesus christ man, Max was given a free pit stop and 4 spots of track position for nothing. Hell, they effectively added an extra lap to the race, just for Max. I think Lewis should have been required to give the position back, but he would have taken Max in a lap or 2 regardless. One is a judgment call, the other is the race director deciding to outright break multiple rules to help one driver.

All backmarkers must be let through, not just the ones between p1 and p2, AND the rules say that the safety car can't leave the track until the lap AFTER backmarkers overtake. Every single other race would have ended under behind the SC. If Masi had let all the backmarkers through, they wouldn't have been able to do so until the final lap, and the race would have finished behind the SC. There's zero precedent for either of those things ever happening before, and Masi did em both. Think about that. With the current rules, in F1 history, neither of those things had ever been allowed to happen.

If Masi had not originally prevented the backmakers from overtaking, which surprised all the drivers, then Lewis would have boxed and Max would have been the one out in front on 30 lap old tires or he could have come in as well and remained in p2. At least in that case we'd have actually had a real race on the final lap, instead of that farce where one driver was allowed to put new softs on for free and the other was forced to stay out on 44 lap old tires. Motor racing indeed.

Thing is Hamilton already got away with a massive advantage from cutting the corner, so seemed the teams were even from the stewards.

How totally F1, though, for a championship to be decided by race direction with a safety car decision. Good year overall, though.
Total nonsense, Lewis was the faster car the entire day. He pulled away from Max immediately after "cutting the corner". Massive advantage? Jesus christ man, Max was given a free pit stop and 4 spots of track position for nothing. Hell, they effectively added an extra lap to the race, just for Max. I think Lewis should have been required to give the position back, but he would have taken Max in a lap or 2 regardless. One is a judgment call, the other is the race director deciding to outright break multiple rules to help one driver.

All backmarkers must be let through, not just the ones between p1 and p2, AND the rules say that the safety car can't leave the track until the lap AFTER backmarkers overtake. Every single other race would have ended under behind the SC. If Masi had let all the backmarkers through, they wouldn't have been able to do so until the final lap, and the race would have finished behind the SC. There's zero precedent for either of those things ever happening before, and Masi did em both. Think about that. With the current rules, in F1 history, neither of those things had ever been allowed to happen.

If Masi had not originally prevented the backmakers from overtaking, which surprised all the drivers, then Lewis would have boxed and Max would have been the one out in front on 30 lap old tires or he could have come in as well and remained in p2. At least in that case we'd have actually had a real race on the final lap, instead of that farce where one driver was allowed to put new softs on for free and the other was forced to stay out on 44 lap old tires. Motor racing indeed.

Eh. I didn't watch the race, just the highlights, plus I don't really care. I come from two-wheeled racing, where the idea of a race finishing behind a safety car is ludicrous, and have only recently taken a passive interest in F1. Seems you're pretty passionate about it, so I'm probably going to let you down by not arguing with you. To me, just watching the highlights, all I could think is that at least a championship wasn't won on a parade lap.

Thing is Hamilton already got away with a massive advantage from cutting the corner, so seemed the teams were even from the stewards.

How totally F1, though, for a championship to be decided by race direction with a safety car decision. Good year overall, though.
Total nonsense, Lewis was the faster car the entire day. He pulled away from Max immediately after "cutting the corner". Massive advantage? Jesus christ man, Max was given a free pit stop and 4 spots of track position for nothing. Hell, they effectively added an extra lap to the race, just for Max. I think Lewis should have been required to give the position back, but he would have taken Max in a lap or 2 regardless. One is a judgment call, the other is the race director deciding to outright break multiple rules to help one driver.

All backmarkers must be let through, not just the ones between p1 and p2, AND the rules say that the safety car can't leave the track until the lap AFTER backmarkers overtake. Every single other race would have ended under behind the SC. If Masi had let all the backmarkers through, they wouldn't have been able to do so until the final lap, and the race would have finished behind the SC. There's zero precedent for either of those things ever happening before, and Masi did em both. Think about that. With the current rules, in F1 history, neither of those things had ever been allowed to happen.

If Masi had not originally prevented the backmakers from overtaking, which surprised all the drivers, then Lewis would have boxed and Max would have been the one out in front on 30 lap old tires or he could have come in as well and remained in p2. At least in that case we'd have actually had a real race on the final lap, instead of that farce where one driver was allowed to put new softs on for free and the other was forced to stay out on 44 lap old tires. Motor racing indeed.

It's hard to mock it as racing while you lobby for them to finish behind a safety car, isn't it?

All the talk at this point is just crying about the refs. It was a great season and there's a new champion. I got over Senna taking out my man Prost to win the championship in the last race back in the day, and you'll get over your sore ass about Hamilton.

Thing is Hamilton already got away with a massive advantage from cutting the corner, so seemed the teams were even from the stewards.

How totally F1, though, for a championship to be decided by race direction with a safety car decision. Good year overall, though.
Total nonsense, Lewis was the faster car the entire day. He pulled away from Max immediately after "cutting the corner". Massive advantage? Jesus christ man, Max was given a free pit stop and 4 spots of track position for nothing. Hell, they effectively added an extra lap to the race, just for Max. I think Lewis should have been required to give the position back, but he would have taken Max in a lap or 2 regardless. One is a judgment call, the other is the race director deciding to outright break multiple rules to help one driver.

All backmarkers must be let through, not just the ones between p1 and p2, AND the rules say that the safety car can't leave the track until the lap AFTER backmarkers overtake. Every single other race would have ended under behind the SC. If Masi had let all the backmarkers through, they wouldn't have been able to do so until the final lap, and the race would have finished behind the SC. There's zero precedent for either of those things ever happening before, and Masi did em both. Think about that. With the current rules, in F1 history, neither of those things had ever been allowed to happen.

If Masi had not originally prevented the backmakers from overtaking, which surprised all the drivers, then Lewis would have boxed and Max would have been the one out in front on 30 lap old tires or he could have come in as well and remained in p2. At least in that case we'd have actually had a real race on the final lap, instead of that farce where one driver was allowed to put new softs on for free and the other was forced to stay out on 44 lap old tires. Motor racing indeed.
It's hard to mock it as racing while you lobby for them to finish behind a safety car, isn't it?

All the talk at this point is just crying about the refs. It was a great season and there's a new champion. I got over Senna taking out my man Prost to win the championship in the last race back in the day, and you'll get over your sore ass about Hamilton.

This is like complaining about someone being upset if Rob Manfred gave the losing team in game 7 of the world series and extra half inning to score, and then loaded the bases for them.

I'm lobbying for Masi to have let all the backmarkers through, so at the very least Max would have had to defend from Sainz, you know, like in a motor race. In the history of F1 this rule has never been bent(read: broken) like this before, and it was used to decide the championship. If this had happened to Verstappen I'd feel the same way, would you?

Thing is Hamilton already got away with a massive advantage from cutting the corner, so seemed the teams were even from the stewards.

How totally F1, though, for a championship to be decided by race direction with a safety car decision. Good year overall, though.
Total nonsense, Lewis was the faster car the entire day. He pulled away from Max immediately after "cutting the corner". Massive advantage? Jesus christ man, Max was given a free pit stop and 4 spots of track position for nothing. Hell, they effectively added an extra lap to the race, just for Max. I think Lewis should have been required to give the position back, but he would have taken Max in a lap or 2 regardless. One is a judgment call, the other is the race director deciding to outright break multiple rules to help one driver.

All backmarkers must be let through, not just the ones between p1 and p2, AND the rules say that the safety car can't leave the track until the lap AFTER backmarkers overtake. Every single other race would have ended under behind the SC. If Masi had let all the backmarkers through, they wouldn't have been able to do so until the final lap, and the race would have finished behind the SC. There's zero precedent for either of those things ever happening before, and Masi did em both. Think about that. With the current rules, in F1 history, neither of those things had ever been allowed to happen.

If Masi had not originally prevented the backmakers from overtaking, which surprised all the drivers, then Lewis would have boxed and Max would have been the one out in front on 30 lap old tires or he could have come in as well and remained in p2. At least in that case we'd have actually had a real race on the final lap, instead of that farce where one driver was allowed to put new softs on for free and the other was forced to stay out on 44 lap old tires. Motor racing indeed.
It's hard to mock it as racing while you lobby for them to finish behind a safety car, isn't it?

All the talk at this point is just crying about the refs. It was a great season and there's a new champion. I got over Senna taking out my man Prost to win the championship in the last race back in the day, and you'll get over your sore ass about Hamilton.
This is like complaining about someone being upset if Rob Manfred gave the losing team in game 7 of the world series and extra half inning to score, and then loaded the bases for them.

I'm lobbying for Masi to have let all the backmarkers through, so at the very least Max would have had to defend from Sainz, you know, like in a motor race. In the history of F1 this rule has never been bent(read: broken) like this before, and it was used to decide the championship. If this had happened to Verstappen I'd feel the same way, would you?

No, it's nothing like that.

I'm not a Max homer. I'm not a Hamilton Homer, either. I like good racing, and that's what took place.

Any race could have decided the championship this year, you just decided that this was the one that matters - not the races where Hamilton was the beneficiary of the funny business that happens in F1 all the time. .

Stay sore about it if you want. It won't change anything. Senna has the world title from 1990 and Max is going to have it for 2021 and there's fuckall either one of us can do about it.

There's a requirement in the sporting regulations to wave all the lapped cars passed. Therefore the safety car period was a bit longer than what we would have normally expected.

- Michael Masi
October 11, 2020

How can you say putting Max on Lewis' gear box with 43 lap newer tires, with nobody behind Max, was "good racing"? The rest of the field didn't even race the final lap. The race was over the second Masi let those 5 cars through, there was no FINAL LAP SHOWDOWN DUN DUN DUN. It was shooting fish in a barrel. Lewis dominated for 53 laps but it can't end behind the safety car, like F1 races have ended literally dozens of times before, including the final race of the season? Because it would have been anticlimactic the rules get changed?

Latifi's car was cleared at the end of lap 56, Masi could easily have let all the back-markers through, but instead he waited until there were what, 10 seconds left on lap 57 to make Lewis a sitting duck? Both Mercedes and RB made tactical decisions based on the rules. If Merc had pit, do you think Masi would have done the same thing, or would the race have ended behind the SC, with Max as champion?

I don't have a problem with the SC exiting prematurely, there is precedent for that, but not with 10 seconds notice, and there is of course zero precedent for letting the partial un-lapping occur. When Masi himself says just last year that it's a requirement, and then doesn't follow it, that is fucked up.

There's an international fraud investigation into the FIA right now. People are already upset with the consistency of the judgment and application of the regulations from race to race, and yet in the same race Masi applied the exact same rule differently to different cars on track at the exact same time.

Also, fuck Senna and fuck Schumi.

BleachedAnusDawg

Fuck Senna? Schumacher?

FUCK YOU!

BennyBeaver

Leave it to a Duck to have the most retarded F1 take ever.

Don't act like you're Toto Fucking Wolf, be entertained.