Thetownend.com

I’m travelling back to Swindon from London right now so can only keep half an eye on the race, but it’s looking good for Hamilton right now. This has been a fun season

Thought this was a thread about the Accies having a game in Europe against a Dutch side I had never heard of :)

I want Hamilton to win it, but I'm very surprised no action taken in turn 1 incident

Not seen it yet, but did read a comment saying it’s the kind of racing incident Max has advocated the stewards to ignore in the past

Kimi Raikonnen out. Shame. One of my favourite F1 characters

The many emotions of Kimi Raikonnen

fucking hell, safety car. this is going to be interesting

Hamilton better get the tissues out

Fantastic entertainment

fixed

Oh and Toto can fuck off and bless the rains down in Africa

Go on Lewis, let’s see how big you are, go and twat him 🤣🤣

Stewards made it up as the went along all season so only fitting it happened in the last race. The ending cancels out the mess they made of the first lap, things evened themselves out in the end. Special mention to Perez, what a job he did whereas Bottas on the other hand is nothing but bang average and the fact he’s scored so many points for Mercedes shows how dominant their car had been.

Mercedes were only dominant at the end of the season. Red bull has the faster car early/mid season

farcical end

That Masi fella summed it perfectly

“Toto it’s called a motor race!”

Think knocking one out might be a bit distracting....

Sent from my SM-A125F

Champonship decided by the stewards and race director - welcome to the future of F1

Final amusing twist would be if Wolff gets his wish and places decided on penultimate lap then Hamilton gets handed a 5 second penalty based on new evidence from the lap one incident. Steward decisions have been inconsistent all season but they’ve probably evened themselves out now.

They clearly still miss Charlie Whiting.

 :zzz:

Considering he gets a bit of grief for being arrogant, I thought Hamilton handled himself with absolute class after that.

One swallow dos not make a BJ specialist.

he did . very un bellend like tbh - which is a suprise.

wolf is also a class act compared to whinger spice.

Masi didn't apply the rules correctly as far as I can see. They have the right to feel aggrieved and appeal. I don't think the championship will be reversed, but financial compensation *if* the case proven

Definitely been too many things decided by stewards throughout the season.

“Let them race” seems to have gone out the window this season which is a shame

If Michael Masi is just going to make up his own rules as he goes along, as he has done for most of the second half of the season, he should have red flagged it and had a 5 lap sprint. Would have at least made it fair

Give me touring cars any day.

They've made some very odd calls all season long, Verstappen has gotten away with a lot of stuff and benefitted from some bizarre calls (Spa, anyone?) The bullshit of the last few events could've been avoided had they (correctly) penalised Verstappen for driving like a cunt in Brazil, instead they feed into his 'victim' mentality and he continues to drive like a cunt. Masi should not be in charge of the stewarding next year, he is obviously clueless and way too easy to sway by Karen Horner demanding to speak to his manager every event. Shameful turn of events, and as soon as they allowed those five cars to pass, and not follow proper procedure, they handed Verstappen the title. Bullshit call cost us a decent fight for the championship, Hamilton had done more than enough to win that.

I'm still thinking about this. It's a nuts/corrupt/laughable/ *delete as app. end to a season.

Yeah first lap Hamilton got "fortunate" but I think based on sheer race pace for HAM and Verstappen being on softs then HAM would've eventually overtaken VER. VER would still have had to have pitted earlier than HAM anyway so it's fairly moot regarding the first lap.

As for the part of the race that a lot of people are now talking about. C'est incroyable! I'm sure many have seen the same words be repeated/posted etc but how can Race Control (Masi) state "No cars to overtake the safety car" on lap 56 and a half, to then suddenly change to "Cars (only the ones between MV & LH) to overtake the safety car" on lap 57 and a bit? Further and this is the wider issue, why only those few cars? Certainly it must be all cars to unlap or none at all and this is why Masi's decision stinks. Not only did this certainly hand the race win (and subsequent WDC title) to MV and shaft LH, it also shafted Sainz, Tsunoda and Gasly. These guys weren't given an equal shot at using this final lap (also with fresh tyres/tires (sic* can't remember which one) too) to improve their own race position. With that in mind then, the only driver who benefitted from this sudden "change of heart" was Verstappen and Verstappen only. The decision points to aide no one else but he. Call me a cynic but I truly believe someone (and not the obvious people involved) somewhere desperately wanted Verstappen to win the WDC this season; at any cost. There now seems to be an impasse for the sport because the integrity, if somewhat on unstable ground for many years before, is now more shredded than a 16 psi pressure Pirelli C5 after 20 laps. Regardless of any outcome at CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport, as I see it going there now), I think for there to be any progress then Michael Masi has to do the right thing and step down. It'll be a massive admission of knowing that he made his role untenable but there will be some minor integrity left. He is no Charlie Whiting that's for sure.

In some ways, I feel Michael Masi has got himself sucked in far too much to the "constructed" version of F1 via the dramatic "Drive To Survive". Now that is great entertainment but that should be down to Netflix to inflate/exaggerate/create with their own editing/creativity etc and not actually dictating in part, outcomes and generating rivalries via their narratives. Like a lot of TV in sport, Netflix have thrown a lot of dosh to gain exclusive AAA to much of F1 and are seemingly having some influence too but we have to remember that this isn't reality TV and when the lines between both start to blur, we get a false representation (or a production companies adaptation) of what sport truly means and why people get involved/fall in love with it in the first place.

There is a danger then that the "entertainment" factor starts to actually override the "integrity" of sport factor in F1. Of course, there needs to be a balance to keep things interesting but there are more than one ways to skin a cat; this wasn't the way to do it. Many F1 newbs will be thinking WTF - as will several true F1 diehards (regardless of their fave driver).

I have no real allegiance to either Hamilton or Verstappen and certainly don't associate any nationalistic sticker/flag to it. For one reason, the driver may be of one nationality but these teams are built by people from all parts of the world. I've never really understood the sticking a flag on it element but maybe that is just me. I have a similar mindset with boxing too. I just back who I like and appreciate a good, fair, talented competitor. eg, I really rate Gasly in F1 but think he doesn't/isn't get/getting a fair crack of the whip currently. I couldn't give a jot though that he is French.

All in all, this is a disappointing end to a season that has had some amazing and genuine racing moments. The midfield battle was the most interesting and entertaining with many of those drivers capable of stepping up, any of them could also be an MV or LH with a seat in the top two teams. Yet the season has been overshadowed by a terrible Race Control which has made inconsistent/bizarre decisions for most of the season. Can any of us be sure as to where the sport goes from here with such a cloud of integrity heavier and more full of rain than we ever saw at Spa...

tl;dr
Masi is a cunt
LH likely would've overtook MV after the first few laps so 1st lap issue/discussion is moot
Masi is a cunt
Decision likely to go to CAS
Masi is a cunt
F1 Newbs and diehards alike will most likely be in a state of WTF
Masi is a cunt
Other drivers denied a fair race
Masi is a cunt
The Netflix Paradox & Masi Dilemma/Contradiction
Masi is a cunt
In race decision by Masi during/ending of SC directly and only benefitted MV
Masi is a cunt
Lots of midfield F1 drivers capable of stepping up
Masi is a cunt
The sport now left under a bigger cloud than ever before
Oh and yeah, Masi is a cunt!

It also needs to be looked at in the context of the Belgian result when there was a 2 lap parade behind a safety car, which gave verstappen the win and points when no actual race took place.

Masi made a comment about it being a motor race - that one wasn't.

I would be extremely surprised if Masi keeps his job.   He's not able to be strong or consistent in his decision making.

I'm in two minds, either Masi is a cheat, or Masi is massively out of his depth come crunch decision time.

I get he only has seconds to decide in some cases

however, everyone that follows F1 knew that by restarting the race the outcome would be Max wins (unless he binned it).

Masi knew his call would be deciding the WDC

My feeling is that Masi is out of his depth. When Whiting was race Director, teams would accept his ruling (or so it appeared). Masi appears to be easily influenced by the team shouting loudest; be it Merc or RB. Additionally, I get the feeling he is trying to direct the race to make it more exciting rather than direct according to the rule book (Bamboo summed it up well).  He seems to forget there are 18 other protagonists in the race and has focussed solely on Max v Lewis.  The mud slinging between Horner (in particular) and Wolff has also been unsavoury. 

Ultimately I couldn't give a shit who is world champion, but it should be won on the track, according to rules laid down by the FIA and enforced by a competent race director. This year, sadly that hasn't been the case and the great driving of Max and Lewis has been overshadowed.

Didn't watch it (stopped watching F1 when it appeared to reach the stage that they were no longer allowed to race wet races), but having watched the two controversies later yesterday had all the characteristics of, in footballing parlance, a referee fucking up one decision early and then trying to level things up by giving a soft one later. What would have been funnier would have been to let it lie at the end with the lapped cars in, RB then lodge a protest over the shenanigans on the first lap and they give Hamilton a retro time penalty to leave him second anyway.

What has been funnier is watching all the nationalistic racists on twitter who normally hate on Hamilton for being black now getting their knickers in a contrary twist as they feel johnny foreigner has got one over on the plucky Brit!

I watched yesterday for the first time in years. I'm not really an F1 fan so didn't have a favourite. As a neutral the end of the race was a complete farce, based on 53 laps of actual racing Hamilton should've won that race and the championship. The outcome was effectively decided by the stewards and race director, that's not sport.

That's why I have zero interest in F1, all the excitement is off the track   :D

It completely threw me when I found out that not only can the teams call up the race director in the middle of the race, the audio is played out on the TV coverage.

Seems to me like F1 wants to be more of a docu-drama than a race series.

Just started viewing for the last few laps.  I saw this naively as UK v Germany (ok, Belgium/Holland) and was pleased to note Hamilton cruising to an apparently comfortable win.  

In football parlance it seemed like 4-0 up with 5 minutes to go when the referee suddenly announces "next goal wins".  As I think Bamboo suggested, it was also disrespectful to the backmarkers who were ordered to pass the safety car.  This is obviously but one example of unnecessarily meddlesome intervention.

But I've stopped watching GP racing for ages now.  Although I can be one-eyed and even a tad cun-tish when it comes to the slavetraders or the Pox, I must say I find the level of vitriol selectively dished out to Verstappen or Hamilton bizarre.  

They - and actually the rest of the drivers for that matter - are very highly skilled battling for places in an ultra competitive contests.  Whilst fans' passions will boil over in the heat of battle or aftermath of defeat, I just don't get the one-sided expressions close to hatred shown towards the opponent of one's "favourite" - in individual sport.

I guess it's t'internet and indeed my advancing years.

More UK v. Netherlands or in team terms Germany v. Austria.

Spot on

i want to enjoy watching F1 but that finale kind of sums up my reasons for not being that fussed.  I understand you need a way to ensure safety, what I don't understand (ignoring the why's and the wherefore's over yesterdays farce) is why everything you have achieved bar grid position is wiped out on any version of restart they go with.  Even after a Red they usually line-up in the pits or grid.  For starters, it's always struck me as bizarre to rub out the previous gains, but it also seems inherently unsafe - the most likely time to have a crash is off the start when everyone is bunched.  Surely, if a Safety Car would be needed just stop the thing, bring everyone in and restart once clear, no laps lost.  Use the grid and everyone gets a green light based on the moment the race was stopped.  I understand in times of yore this would have been less exact, but these days they know the nth degree where everyone was.

On the race yesterday - it was clear, because they let us hear the comms, that the ability to get in the ear of the race director is farcical.  He'd already decided the restart, then changed at the very last second once Horner chewed on him for a bit.  Not knocking Red Bull for trying because Wolf was doing likewiese earlier about something if I remember correctly.  Why can they even contact him?  Just fucking do as your told and dispute it after if you feel the rules were not applied.

The sport continues to look like a crooked money pit, same as it always has.

This hoo ha sums up F1

https://twitter.com/i/status/1470318952748392450

This is definitely worth a watch. Ricciardo's on board for that final lap.

Also this:

https://youtu.be/0robRF9TjNs

Whatever your view on F1, the drivers, the rules, whatever Verstappens win will always be seen as tarnished. Hamilton will be back, for a few more seasons then he’ll call it a day.