To wonder what happened in the F1 yesterday?

[WonderingWoman30]

I am trying to get my head around what happened with Lewis v Max in the F1 yesterday! I have read articles and was watching it… but I don’t understand the controversy… can anyone explain in (very) simple terms?!

May I also say, how great it is that Mumsnet is discussing F1 in such detail? Even if for the wrong reasons 🙈

This is so much less toxic than Reddit or Twitter, if I don’t remember to set up a discussion thread when the new season starts, someone else please do it!

Imagine you were in a running race and the race was paused ...(as behind the safety car) then the 6 people behind the leader of the race were allowed past the 1 placed person....because they were actually a lap behind the first and 7th placed.

Then allow the 7th placed person to catch up closer to the 1st placed person....and then restart the race for a single lap.

The race director effectively gave the 7th placed person an advantage by clearing the obstructing cars and allowing a narrowing of the distance between the 1st and 7th on the track.
The 7th on the track had faster, newer tyres and won.

Totally unfair in any book but given F1 are self regulating, the turkeys aren't going to vote for Christmas are they. Total sham!!!

@BHX3000

May I also say, how great it is that Mumsnet is discussing F1 in such detail? Even if for the wrong reasons 🙈

This is so much less toxic than Reddit or Twitter, if I don’t remember to set up a discussion thread when the new season starts, someone else please do it!

Yes to this!

For those saying that LH/Mercedes should have put on fresh tyres under the safety car...

The point is that the FIA are making the rules up as they go along - in this case they could have then decided to end the race under the safety car and then LH would have lost out in this scenario too. The FIA are basically saying it is their decision to make which surely no longer makes it a competitive sport.

That's why the whole situation is farcical. I hope it does go through the courts, not that LH should win but so the FIA are forced to do something about their ridiculous behaviour.

My greatest sympathies, however, go to Susie Wolff... I think I'd have been sleeping in the spare room last night if I was her!

From all the videos and photos on social media, I’m assuming she got a good night’s sleep with the bed to herself. Toto was partying until the small hours and he did not look sober enough to find his way back to the hotel, even the one on the track

@cuparfull

Imagine you were in a running race and the race was paused ...(as behind the safety car) then the 6 people behind the leader of the race were allowed past the 1 placed person....because they were actually a lap behind the first and 7th placed.

Then allow the 7th placed person to catch up closer to the 1st placed person....and then restart the race for a single lap.

The race director effectively gave the 7th placed person an advantage by clearing the obstructing cars and allowing a narrowing of the distance between the 1st and 7th on the track.
The 7th on the track had faster, newer tyres and won.

Totally unfair in any book but given F1 are self regulating, the turkeys aren't going to vote for Christmas are they. Total sham!!!

By 7th, you mean 2nd.

@RunningFromInsanity

Lewis deserved to win the race but Max deserved to win the Championship.

Yes this.

@BHX3000

My greatest sympathies, however, go to Susie Wolff... I think I'd have been sleeping in the spare room last night if I was her!

From all the videos and photos on social media, I’m assuming she got a good night’s sleep with the bed to herself. Toto was partying until the small hours and he did not look sober enough to find his way back to the hotel, even the one on the track

Ha ha! I didn't see that! In which case, I won't want to be her today. Hungover and angry Toto does not sound fun!

Mercedes screwed up on strategy and didn't pit hamilton for fresh tyres and now Toto wolff is throwing his toys out the pram. If hamilton had been pitted like he asked twice he would have beat vertsappen on that final lap.

Mercedes have had so much luck with safety cars going theit way this year.

Also they still won constructors, and Bottas has now just been ignored by mercedes even though that was his final race. Awful from toto and mercedes regardless of result

If hamilton had been pitted like he asked twice he would have beat vertsappen on that final lap

Yes Lewis wasn't happy with that decision way before the lapped cars issue happened.

He even said at one point 'is he right behind me' and they told him 'yes if the lapped cars are made to move'. He knew he'd lose on the older tires if that happened.

If I was Max I would be pretty gutted to of won my first Grand Prix like that.

Max was always going to be a future champion but yesterday’s race just turned into a needless farce.

@Lazypuppy

Mercedes screwed up on strategy and didn't pit hamilton for fresh tyres and now Toto wolff is throwing his toys out the pram. If hamilton had been pitted like he asked twice he would have beat vertsappen on that final lap.

Mercedes have had so much luck with safety cars going theit way this year.

Also they still won constructors, and Bottas has now just been ignored by mercedes even though that was his final race. Awful from toto and mercedes regardless of result

I mean in hindsight, perhaps yes, but where/when are you saying they should have pitted? Before the safety car/after Max's stop? He would have come out behind Max and in traffic, no guarantee of getting through even with the SC in play which of course at that point they didn't know was coming. After the SC - then Max would in all likelihood have stayed out having seen Lewis pit so Lewis would have been the one stuck behind the other cars, even assuming the same thing would have happened with the lapping/unlapping decision, it would have been Lewis on new mediums or used softs (I think someone upthread said he had no new softs left, they were used in quali) vs Max on slightly used mediums, again no guarantee of the win there. This is controversial speculation obviously but my view is in either scenario Max would have driven extremely aggressively to stop Lewis getting by him, if they both crashed Max took the championship anyway on tiebreak so you can see why Merc took what they thought was a safety-first approach by staying out and maintaining the biggest possible gap....

Not sure that Susie Wolff needs sympathy. I would far rather be married to Toto than the whinging windbag that is Horner. Toto is also far better looking.

Masi made up a rule at the end of the race Lewis was winning, to engineer a more exciting finish, is basically what happened.

Horner would have been equally livid.

Both Max and Lewis are fantastic drivers and did not deserve this shitshow ending. Also how they pay tax is irrelevant.

For those saying that LH/Mercedes should have put on fresh tyres under the safety car.
By the time of the last SC session it was too late. It was the previous SC.

Mercedes have been repeatedly calling tyre strategy badly. Even Lewis was questioning the team's decision when he realised Max had changed to a fresh set of Soft tyres. It was a gamble for Red Bull, but they knew it was a circuit with a high likelihood of a further SC incident as tyres aged.

All season Red Bull have been getting the under-cut on Mercedes on routine pit stops, and making better calls on reactive pit stops under safety car conditions. The end result has been that Max has been in a better position after routine stops and he's usually had better tyres than Lewis in the closing stages of the race. Too often Lewis has been given the instruction to nurse tyres and mind the curbs to avoid punctures.

I don't think safety car procedures have changed very much in a long time. It was always practice to clear the lapped cars out of the way, and the pack has always bunched up behind the safety car. They clear the lapped cars because it's safer and creates better racing. What might have changed is the number of safety car incidents in a season. They do seem to bring it out (and the virtual safety car) far more often. Part of this is down to circuit design, and part of it is the cars - they're far more fragile and there's a lot more bits to fall off with the complex wings and aerodynamics.

@eggsandwich

If I was Max I would be pretty gutted to of won my first Grand Prix like that.

Max was always going to be a future champion but yesterday’s race just turned into a needless farce.

Yesterday was Max’s 20th Grand Prix win.

If you mean championship, I don’t see why he should be gutted about it. They started working towards that championship back in March, what happened yesterday doesn’t take away from either competitor’s work throughout the season. Max had more wins (even excluding Abu Dhabi), more podiums, more poles and led more laps than Lewis, and he had 2 more retirements on top. That’s 50 potential points he lost out on, 75 if we count Hungary. He’s been superior this year, both him and RB’s approach to each race.

The race was a farce, the championship wasn’t.

After the Belgian GP, where there was an extensive debate as to whether the race had actually started or not, I wasn't surprised at what happened yesterday. The race director then set a precedent that he could and would make up rules on the spot and that has continued.

@cuparfull

Imagine you were in a running race and the race was paused ...(as behind the safety car) then the 6 people behind the leader of the race were allowed past the 1 placed person....because they were actually a lap behind the first and 7th placed.

Then allow the 7th placed person to catch up closer to the 1st placed person....and then restart the race for a single lap.

The race director effectively gave the 7th placed person an advantage by clearing the obstructing cars and allowing a narrowing of the distance between the 1st and 7th on the track.
The 7th on the track had faster, newer tyres and won.

Totally unfair in any book but given F1 are self regulating, the turkeys aren't going to vote for Christmas are they. Total sham!!!

By your logic, the moment the leader laps you, you become the second placed car.

Max was never in 7th yesterday.

I think the thing that annoys me most is that they actually changed the rules of the 'game' midgame.

All the other points people are making about the incidents at Brazil, Silverstone, Jeddah etc are akin to refereeing mistakes. That happens in sport all the time. Something happens, the referee makes a decision, sometimes that decision is good, sometimes bad, it can influence the outcome massively. But at the end of day, that's competitive sport for you. Although, I agree that the stewards have been massively inconsistent this year.

But in this instance, the governing body actually changed the rules in the middle of the race! That is why it is farcical. It has got nothing to do with Lewis losing his advantage, Max having new tyres... That is all racing strategy and what always happens under a SC. That bit is all very predictable. But randomly changing the rules of the race is not predictable!

Anyway, looks like Mercedes are backing out of the appeal.

Feel really bad for Toto Wolf's wife... Didn't really know much about his character (apart from his passionate displays on TV)... Not nice living with a man that takes his temper home 🙁.

Anyway, will still watch next year! Love cosy Sunday afternoons watching F1 with DP with our racing nuts (roasted peanuts) and betting 50p on the winner! Last year we had to bet on p2/p3 as p1 was always a foregone conclusion... Not anymore though 🙂

BHX3000

It was still a farce…….SORRY!

@senua

In very simple terms: Formula 1 decided that it is no longer a sport; it is a manufactured TV entertainment with predetermined outcomes, akin to WWE.

And now deputy heads will roll

The race was, yes. I don't see what's 'hmm' about the championship, though?

@MindyStClaire

Apparently Mercedes have withdrawn their appeal, which I think is for the best.

Let F1 celebrate its new champion, and relish a new era.

Please post where you learned this from - I can only find that it's being reported that Lewis asked Toto to withdraw their protests, not that they are actually not carrying on with them? www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-hamilton-protest-withdrawal/

BHX3000

I’m sure your figure it out

@eggsandwich

BHX3000

I’m sure your figure it out

I love it when someone has strong arguments to defend their opinion.