2021 Motorsports Thread

[Ibanez]

I watched P2 and thought the same. I'm looking forward to Max pushing his way around the track.

Someone made a funny video forecasting this weekends race - Max runs Lewis off the track, jumps out and proceeds to beat the shit out of Lewis.

Max has incentive to crash Lewis out in the first turn. If he does, he's champion.

If I'm Lewis, I either want to be on the pole with Valteri in 2nd, or I want to be behind Max. I would not want to be within kissing distance of Max in turn 1. At all. He's proven time and again this year that he's a dangerous driver with no respect for racing etiquette.

He's like a James Hunt

[93henfan]

Max has incentive to crash Lewis out in the first turn. If he does, he's champion.

If I'm Lewis, I either want to be on the pole with Valteri in 2nd, or I want to be behind Max. I would not want to be within kissing distance of Max in turn 1. At all. He's proven time and again this year that he's a dangerous driver with no respect for racing etiquette.

He's like a James Hunt

Just without the charm, good looks, and likability.

[Ibanez]

He's like a James Hunt

Just without the charm, good looks, and likability.

He's got the driving style of James Hunt with the ruthlessness and lack of charm of Nikki Lauda

[93henfan]

Somebody just watched Rush!

[Ibanez]

Somebody just watched Rush!

Watched that months ago man for the 2nd or 3 time. That's an old film. But Hunt/Lauda is a great example.

Max is also like Jean Girard - the French F1 phenom!

[dbackjon]

Cross Posting from Death Pool...

Alfred 'Al' Unser, a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 race, has died aged at the age of 82 after a 17-year cancer battle, his son Al Unser Jr. and the IndyCar championship said on Friday.

"My heart is so saddened. My father passed away last night. He was a Great man and even a Greater Father. Rest In Peace Dad," Al Unser Jr, a two-time Indianapolis winner, wrote on Twitter.

Unser was born on May 29, 1939 in Albuquerque, New Mexico into a racing family with his brother Bobby also a three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 race.

[93henfan]

Complete embarrassment for F1, with the race director handing the championship to Verstappen with arbitrary rules and decision-making. You either pull all of the lapped cars or you do not pull any. You cannot pull the five that are in front of Max and then throw the green flag. Just a complete manipulation by Michael Masi to hand the championship to Verstappen.

89 is right. F1 sucks.

Spoiler: show

[Ibanez]

Complete embarrassment for F1, with the race director handing the championship to Verstappen with arbitrary rules and decision-making. You either pull all of the lapped cars or you do not pull any. You cannot pull the five that are in front of Max and then throw the green flag. Just a complete manipulation by Michael Masi to hand the championship to Verstappen.

89 is right. F1 sucks.

Spoiler: show

After they denied him the position earlier after a different decision in Brazil under similar circumstances, we’ve seen that the rules are hardly applied universally.


Driver of the Day is Cheko - he masterfully held off Lewis.


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[93henfan]

Mercedes has launched two protests. The rules make it clear that you either let all the lappers go and restart the lap after the last has passed (which would have been after the checkered flag to Lewis) or you let none go, which would have been checkered flag to Lewis. Or, if Masi wanted a finish under green so badly, he could have red flagged the race and allowed Lewis to get on the same soft tires as Max. In all three scenarios, Lewis wins. Instead, Masi concocts the only scenario that ensured victory for Max, and it violated the regulations.

Hopefully F1 does the right thing and overturns the race result. Lewis should be champion.

But of course they won't, as it appears that Masi is being influenced in some way in favor of Red Bull. We saw similar shenanigans last week. There was a safety car, Lewis boxes for tires giving up track position to Max, then Masi red flags the race to allow Max a free tire change while stopped. There really looks like some sort of fraud behind all of this this to me.

[93henfan]

As expected, F1 quickly dismisses the Mercedes protests and brushes any valid concerns under the rug. Nothing to see here.

[Ibanez]

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[Ibanez]

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[Ibanez]

As expected, F1 quickly dismisses the Mercedes protests and brushes any valid concerns under the rug. Nothing to see here.

F1 is tired of Tottos shit. The balls of that guy asking Masi to NOT do a safety car when the course has a wrecked car on it. I’m glad Masi at least grew a set and told him “it’s a motor race.”

Totto will be out for blood and rumors are that Lewis is asking him to stop the appeals.

Also - I’m pretty sure Latifi is now the Red Bull Driver of the Year.


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[89Hen]

Complete embarrassment for F1, with the race director handing the championship to Verstappen with arbitrary rules and decision-making. You either pull all of the lapped cars or you do not pull any. You cannot pull the five that are in front of Max and then throw the green flag. Just a complete manipulation by Michael Masi to hand the championship to Verstappen.

89 is right. F1 sucks.

Watched the end of the replay last night and was laughing my ass off. What a joke.

[Winterborn]

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[Winterborn]

93, I agree that the rules need to be applied consistently. But they haven't done that all year (an issue IMHO) and sometimes it has very much benefited Mercedes. This time it didn't.


That said, I can't say that I am not happy that Hamilton didn't get his 8th championship.

And Hamilton can use this to further his F1 racist talking points into a profitable speaking career. So maybe Masi was just doing him a favor......

[89Hen]

I don't understand this one. They didn't err on not pitting. They DID get screwed by F1.

[Ibanez]

I don't understand this one. They didn't err on not pitting. They DID get screwed by F1.

You had have watched the race. Verstappen trailed Hamilton by about 11 seconds which is NOT enough to go into the pit for a 2.4sec pit stop and then get back onto the track in time to remain in the lead. Verstappen got a free pit, in a ways, and was able to get new tires. Hamilton was still on hard tires that he got on lap 14 (~38 laps before the safety car). So Hamilton stayed out, on old tires, to maintain the lead and HOPE to finish the race under safety car.

[89Hen]

You had have watched the race. Verstappen trailed Hamilton by about 11 seconds which is NOT enough to go into the pit for a 2.4sec pit stop and then get back onto the track in time to remain in the lead. Verstappen got a free pit, in a ways, and was able to get new tires. Hamilton was still on hard tires that he got on lap 14 (~38 laps before the safety car). So Hamilton stayed out, on old tires, to maintain the lead and HOPE to finish the race under safety car.

I get that, but that meme implies that not stopping for tires was a choice and mistake by Mercedes.

The ending to that race was perhaps one of the worst things in sports I've ever seen in my life.

[Ibanez]

You had have watched the race. Verstappen trailed Hamilton by about 11 seconds which is NOT enough to go into the pit for a 2.4sec pit stop and then get back onto the track in time to remain in the lead. Verstappen got a free pit, in a ways, and was able to get new tires. Hamilton was still on hard tires that he got on lap 14 (~38 laps before the safety car). So Hamilton stayed out, on old tires, to maintain the lead and HOPE to finish the race under safety car.

I get that, but that meme implies that not stopping for tires was a choice and mistake by Mercedes.

The ending to that race was perhaps one of the worst things in sports I've ever seen in my life.

Hamilton had 38 laps to stop and get a new set. He had plenty of laps where he could've come out at P2 or P3 and gotten back out front - the dude is an incredible driver.

[GannonFan]

You had have watched the race. Verstappen trailed Hamilton by about 11 seconds which is NOT enough to go into the pit for a 2.4sec pit stop and then get back onto the track in time to remain in the lead. Verstappen got a free pit, in a ways, and was able to get new tires. Hamilton was still on hard tires that he got on lap 14 (~38 laps before the safety car). So Hamilton stayed out, on old tires, to maintain the lead and HOPE to finish the race under safety car.

I get that, but that meme implies that not stopping for tires was a choice and mistake by Mercedes.

The ending to that race was perhaps one of the worst things in sports I've ever seen in my life.

It's what happens when Europeans are in charge of things. It's just what they do. So many shenanigans behind the scenes. They make Roger Godell deciding to destroy Bill Belichick's illegal tapes of the opposition look like child's play.

[89Hen]

Hamilton had 38 laps to stop and get a new set. He had plenty of laps where he could've come out at P2 or P3 and gotten back out front - the dude is an incredible driver.

Verstappen didn't stop either until he caught a break. Hamilton not changing tires wasn't a bad decision as the meme implies. I know you didn't write it, but it's a dumb meme.

[89Hen]

It's what happens when Europeans are in charge of things. It's just what they do. So many shenanigans behind the scenes. They make Roger Godell deciding to destroy Bill Belichick's illegal tapes of the opposition look like child's play.

I thought it was only fitting to see a bunch of dudes in white robes on the podium. Just a reminder about the WC coming up in Qatar.

[GannonFan]

It's what happens when Europeans are in charge of things. It's just what they do. So many shenanigans behind the scenes. They make Roger Godell deciding to destroy Bill Belichick's illegal tapes of the opposition look like child's play.

I thought it was only fitting to see a bunch of dudes in white robes on the podium. Just a reminder about the WC coming up in Qatar.

Yup. No one does corruption like FIFA does. FIA are rank amateurs when it's compared with that.

[93henfan]

So Hamilton stayed out, on old tires, to maintain the lead and HOPE to finish the race under safety car.

Had F1 followed its own rules, there were three possible outcomes:

1. Let all lappers by. The time taken to do this would have resulted in a finish under yellow and Hamilton victory.
2. Let no lappers by. The race would have resumed with one lap remaining and Verstappen wouldn't have been able to pass six cars to win. Hamilton victory.
3. Red flag the race. All drivers have choice of tire change. Standing start with Hamilton in P1 and Verstappen in P2, both on fresh soft tires. Best man wins in a fair fight. Coin toss on who wins. Max typically has better starts than Hamilton, and if they both collide in turn one, Max wins on tiebreaker.

or, if rules don't matter

4. Instead, they chose the only option that guaranteed Max a championship, which was to take the unprecedented action of removing only the five cars between Lewis and Max, the very reason Hamilton and Mercedes decided to stay out, allowing Max to come up to Lewis' rear, with tires that were two seconds faster per lap, and with Lewis having no DRS to try to re-pass.

Whatever. I've moved on. This will always be an asterisk season. I expect Hamilton to dominate next season. Why leave anything to chance and allow F1 to manipulate next year's championship result as well?

I get it. Mission accomplished for F1. They've extended the drama for another year, which is what their whole goal was in manufacturing this championship for Verstappen. More viewers, more money, more Netflix dollars.