F1 Formula Sports Racing - Sportsbet.io promotions & discussion thread

[LTU_btc]

So, both Mercedes protests were rejected, but looks that they're going to appeal it. I wanted Verstappen to win, but after race I have bittersweet feeling. I really didn't wanted that one of the best seasons in F1 history would end in such contraversial way. Max is champion and these thing which happened isn't his fault at all, but people after 10 or 20 years will still remember it.

I have no idea what was Mercedes' plan - they had hope that safety car will stay until the end of race? Why did they leave the guy with an old tyres?

There was no win situation for Mercedes. If Mercedes would make pit stop during safety car, no doubts that Verstappen would stay on track and wouldn't make pit stop. It would cost 1st place for Hamilton becausegap between hm and Verstappen wasn't big enough to return on track 1st.
But they made mistake when they didn't pitted Lewis during VSC earlier. After Verstappen stopped, Mercedes had another lap with VSC to make pit stop, but they didn't made it. And from radio conversations seems that Hamilton immediately realised that it wasn't good decision.

[NeuroticFish]

After the crash at lap 54, what the hell happened after? I was so sure that Lewis got this in the bag with his consistent form and driving but what just happened after the safety car at lap 57?

Latifi tries to overtake Mick, fails, then loses the rear of his car and crashes it.
Safety car.
RBR quick move and changed tyres on both cars.
Mercedes were hoping that race ends under safety car.
Strewards make a strange decisions that that cars that are one lap behind remain in place.
Checo retires for unknown reasons.
Strewards change their minds and decide that overlapped cars have to go to their places, hence Max remains just after Lewis.
Safety car goes in, Max takes advantage of his fresh soft tyres and passes Lewis. End of story.
Nice gesture (at least in front of the cameras) from Lewis, although I can see how tough this was for him, possibly the last chance to beat Michael Schumacher.

It was a great race for Checo, shame he retired.
It was an interestingly good result for Sainz.
Good result for both Tsunoda and Gasly.

Max wins, but it was not his merit this time. BRB strategy was good. And he was super lucky too (although I am not convinced that Lewis' tyres would have done good until the end at race speed for all the ending laps).

Lewis should have gotten a grid penalty for the incident with Mazepin Saturday.
Lewis should have gotten a 5 sec penalty for the incident from lap 1.
Lewis almost got favored at safety car restart, but quite late the lapped cars were sent away.
The rules were stretched again and the stewards were giving in to the one shouting the loudest.
The fight for the first place was as sad as the last couple ones.

So, both Mercedes protests were rejected, but looks that they're going to appeal it.

Nothing unexpected. The decisions there were bad. Actually the decisions were bad in the last 2 races, at least.
Not mentioning that if SPA would have been a proper race - no matter when - we may not have had this drama.
But drama brings money, you know?

[CLS63]

First of all, it was a historical race that's for sure. I will always remember this race as a great one. In the end, the champion driver was decided in literally the last lap. This kind of incidents don't happen too often in F1. I enjoyed watching most of the race and the last moments were just incredible. And when it comes to the incident Mercedes were angry about, I can say that FIA made a big mistake there without doubt. They should have obeyed the rules and safety car should have waited until all of the lapped cars catch up with the remaining drivers. And this means that the race should have ended under the control of safety car. So, I really am curious about whether the final decision for the title winner will change or not.

[PawGo]

So, I really am curious about whether the final decision for the title winner will change or not.

I do not think so. Some late decisions could be acceptable, some penalty seconds or so, but I do not believe they will change Champion with a decision made by guys sitting around the table.

[coinlocket$]

I do not think so. Some late decisions could be acceptable, some penalty seconds or so, but I do not believe they will change Champion with a decision made by guys sitting around the table.

That is their job, they are paid as judges for it.

For now they rejected Mercedes and declared Verstappen as champion but I think is not over yet, FIA did a mistake and Mercedes I think will go for the legal way.

[waelov]

I do not think so. Some late decisions could be acceptable, some penalty seconds or so, but I do not believe they will change Champion with a decision made by guys sitting around the table.

That is their job, they are paid as judges for it.

For now they rejected Mercedes and declared Verstappen as champion but I think is not over yet, FIA did a mistake and Mercedes I think will go for the legal way.

It will be strange to see this decision they dont want to show that Massi made a wrong decision also it will be the first time this happen and Verstappen is used to see that as he was taken off the Podium two times before in his  Career.
I am No Hamilton fan or verstappen. I do not believe in the idea of a command. All in the story is that Michael Massi was not successful in managing most Formula One races, and he must be replaced by a new race director with a strong personality. The Mercedes director says he never misses the safety car, and the Red Bull manager demands a final lap after changing Max's tires. Facing the worn out tyres of Hamilton is a shame, unfortunately, congratulations to Verstappen on the Championship.

[NeuroticFish]

For now they rejected Mercedes and declared Verstappen as champion but I think is not over yet, FIA did a mistake and Mercedes I think will go for the legal way.

The problem is that they've made a lot of mistakes lately. And my opinion is that lately most have favored Mercedes, excepting SPA. The year was an avalanche of bad calls from FIA.
I love the way people cheered for Lewis' fair play, while in the back his team was (and is) fighting hard to change the outcome of the race. While I can understand why they do this - it's about a lot of money - it taints the sport.

I know that Max was super lucky. And I won't say that one or another would have deserved the title more, I don't think so, and whoever tells different basically denies all that happened the whole year.
I am happy for Max and I also hope that next year's champion will be somebody else - neither Max, nor Lewis.

[Kusman]

Max Verstappen became the World Champion after an insane last lap. However, FIA made a really big mistake after SC took the control due to Latifi's accident. They shouldn't have let only the lapped drivers between Hamilton and Verstappen go and catch up with them. SC should have waited until all the lapped cars do the same. And as a result, this race should have ended under SC's control. Maybe the champion wouldn't change from now on but Mercedes are doing the right thing by asserting themselves. I really wonder what the final decision will be as the first complain was rejected.

[rdbase]

That's it for the F1 2021 season! And a very entertaining one.
Here are the final standings of each driver:

So, both Mercedes protests were rejected, but looks that they're going to appeal it. I wanted Verstappen to win, but after race I have bittersweet feeling. I really didn't wanted that one of the best seasons in F1 history would end in such contraversial way. Max is champion and these thing which happened isn't his fault at all, but people after 10 or 20 years will still remember it.

I have no idea what was Mercedes' plan - they had hope that safety car will stay until the end of race? Why did they leave the guy with an old tyres?

There was no win situation for Mercedes. If Mercedes would make pit stop during safety car, no doubts that Verstappen would stay on track and wouldn't make pit stop. It would cost 1st place for Hamilton becausegap between hm and Verstappen wasn't big enough to return on track 1st.
But they made mistake when they didn't pitted Lewis during VSC earlier. After Verstappen stopped, Mercedes had another lap with VSC to make pit stop, but they didn't made it. And from radio conversations seems that Hamilton immediately realised that it wasn't good decision.

All protests/appeals against Verstappen's win of the championship has been aborted according to this press release:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mercedes-set-to-abort-plan-to-appeal-against-max-verstappen-title-win-mcs6cbbz7

I like what Max said about how Hamilton's car was better than his a day before the main race.
Max Verstappen about Lewis Hamilton: 'If I had been in his car, the season would have been decided long ago'
https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/1851492597/max-verstappen-over-lewis-hamilton-als-ik-in-zijn-auto-had-gezeten-was-seizoen-allang-beslist

[qwertyup23]

After the crash at lap 54, what the hell happened after? I was so sure that Lewis got this in the bag with his consistent form and driving but what just happened after the safety car at lap 57?

Max wins, but it was not his merit this time. BRB strategy was good. And he was super lucky too (although I am not convinced that Lewis' tyres would have done good until the end at race speed for all the ending laps).

Thanks for the quick summary though I watched the race from a live coverage I received.

Though what baffled me was that, Lewis was marching and blazing through the laps. Even if Verstappen had the soft tyres and pitted twice, Lewis managed to kept his hard tyres with around a +16s gap at lap 54. I was so sure that he was going to win his 8th title but the crash from Latifi resulted to a safety car. The question is, do you think it is just that Verstappen overtook 3 cars when the safety car was deployed?

[NeuroticFish]

Thanks for the quick summary though I watched the race from a live coverage I received.

I was not sure what you've missed, since the "what the hell happened after" 

Though what baffled me was that, Lewis was marching and blazing through the laps. Even if Verstappen had the soft tyres and pitted twice, Lewis managed to kept his hard tyres with around a +16s gap at lap 54. I was so sure that he was going to win his 8th title but the crash from Latifi resulted to a safety car.

I don't know what to say. Lewis was clearly pushing. He was aware that his tyres don't look great, but not too bad either. He was already warned to stop cutting certain corners, especially as another car with Mercedes engine (I think that it was Lando) got a puncture because of the sharp-ish edges in those curves. Those tyres have already shown this year that they can go boom without a warning. But clearly, these are just speculations. The truth is that with the latest engine, the Mercedes car should have been unbeatable. It has shown that in Brasil.

The question is, do you think it is just that Verstappen overtook 3 cars when the safety car was deployed?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. After the tyre change, Max returned into second place, the other few cars were one lap behind.
They would have gotten blue flag anyway; the only thing is that they could have made Max waste some extra time which may or may not have helped Lewis.
However, speculating on what could have been happening are counterproductive.

All protests/appeals against Verstappen's win of the championship has been aborted according to this press release:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mercedes-set-to-abort-plan-to-appeal-against-max-verstappen-title-win-mcs6cbbz7

From what I've read they are only considering that. I'll wait until 100% clear info comes out.

Max Verstappen about Lewis Hamilton: 'If I had been in his car, the season would have been decided long ago'

And many would say "indeed". But it's actually not so easy. The cars have different properties and one pilot can do better than another in the same car. Clearly the RBR car, especially since it has Honda engine, not Mercedes, has different posture and aerodynamics, hence the driving experience may differ.
So while I agree that for most of the races (but not all!!) the Mercedes was more powerful and the faster car, I don't agree with Max' statement.

[PawGo]

Max Verstappen about Lewis Hamilton: 'If I had been in his car, the season would have been decided long ago'

And many would say "indeed". But it's actually not so easy. The cars have different properties and one pilot can do better than another in the same car. Clearly the RBR car, especially since it has Honda engine, not Mercedes, has different posture and aerodynamics, hence the driving experience may differ.
So while I agree that for most of the races (but not all!!) the Mercedes was more powerful and the faster car, I don't agree with Max' statement.

But definitely we may say that car is really good. I do not know how much time Russell had to learn it (maybe he worked on Mercedes' simulator) but when he had a chance to use it, effect was spectacular.

[KTChampions]

I don't understand Mercedes' desire to challenge Verstappen's victory. Would they be satisfied with the Hamilton championship gained on the field of bureaucracy? In my opinion, this is a loss of face and a big marketing blunder. The whole season was filled with scandals and FIA mistakes (and many fans believe that most of the controversial decisions were made in favor of Hamilton), they must come to terms with this and prepare for the next season.

[wxa7115]

I don't understand Mercedes' desire to challenge Verstappen's victory. Would they be satisfied with the Hamilton championship gained on the field of bureaucracy? In my opinion, this is a loss of face and a big marketing blunder. The whole season was filled with scandals and FIA mistakes (and many fans believe that most of the controversial decisions were made in favor of Hamilton), they must come to terms with this and prepare for the next season.

Well, they feel wronged and they want to do something about it so it is understandable the posture they have about this, however if as fans we were asked about what we prefer: the champion to be decided at the table or do we prefer the champion to be chosen on the last lap of the last race of the season?

And without a doubt most fans will choose the latter, besides Hamilton had won so many times in a row that the fans we are getting tired of it, so a new champion and all of this polemic can only benefit the sport as now fans will be excited to see how Hamilton responds to all of this during the next season.

[NeuroticFish]

On a more festive note (as opposed on arguing over whatever Mercedes will do), Sebastian Vettel has won Crypto.com Overtake Award

[barbara44]

Honestly, I would have hoped for a cleaner race and I would have hoped that FIA was not as involved as they were on the last laps, but at the end of the day it was what it was and I am happy that Max won. Not because I love Max, or even hate Lewis, I believe Lewis is great racer but anytime someone dominates a league, that becomes boring for me. Juventus lost finally last year and I was happy, PSG lost finally last year and I was happy, I am waiting for the day Bayern will lose and I would be happy for that too.

So, this wasn't something for Max nor against Lewis but happiness for a change. Now that 2022 is coming closer, we have an incredibly different car and what is going to happen with that will be a very different situation. It could be Max vs Lewis all over again, it could be bunch of other teams finally having a racing car as well.

[jakdanyel]

Max Verstappen about Lewis Hamilton: 'If I had been in his car, the season would have been decided long ago'
https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/1851492597/max-verstappen-over-lewis-hamilton-als-ik-in-zijn-auto-had-gezeten-was-seizoen-allang-beslist

Max Verstappen really loves to brag.    But he might have a point here. Even like this, Verstappen managed to become the champion. And he ended the season by 10 race wins while Lewis Hamilton was getting stuck at 8 wins. If they changed the cars, Verstappen really would have finished this job earlier than this race I think. I don't want to disrespect Hamilton's great season of course. I just want to state a fact here considering the full statistics of the season.

[aoluain]

Did anyone have any bets on either Verstappen or Hamilton to win the title?

This last race of the season has been on every sport bulletin. It sounds like the
race organiser had a very difficult decision to make. I can understand Hamilton and
Mercedes fans would be seriously put out by the decision to let the lapped cars "catch up"
and also Verstappen and Red Bull fans to be delighted by the "correct" decision by the officials.

I can understand that the officials would want a race to the chequered flag rather than a
safety car procession or damp squib finish.

[Vaskiy]

Max Verstappen about Lewis Hamilton: 'If I had been in his car, the season would have been decided long ago'
https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/1851492597/max-verstappen-over-lewis-hamilton-als-ik-in-zijn-auto-had-gezeten-was-seizoen-allang-beslist

Max Verstappen really loves to brag.    But he might have a point here. Even like this, Verstappen managed to become the champion. And he ended the season by 10 race wins while Lewis Hamilton was getting stuck at 8 wins. If they changed the cars, Verstappen really would have finished this job earlier than this race I think. I don't want to disrespect Hamilton's great season of course. I just want to state a fact here considering the full statistics of the season.

Maybe he could've finished in a better style. With any race machine is much important, same as that is the driver. In more races we can see the performance from a underrated machine doing big. It all happens due to the driver and this makes the driver to be more important than the machine. Even at the last moment once after the Chase, Hamilton and Verstappen stood equal in position and Verstappen took the lead.

[PawGo]

I can understand Hamilton and Mercedes fans would be seriously put out by the decision to let the lapped cars "catch up"
and also Verstappen and Red Bull fans to be delighted by the "correct" decision by the officials.

I can understand that the officials would want a race to the chequered flag rather than a
safety car procession or damp squib finish.

Definitely. As many people mentioned, during the whole season there were some strange decisions made by officials, most in favor of Mercedes. For sure they did not want to finish the race with safety car (by the way I do not understand why they cannot stop counting laps when race is interrupted).
Spa 2021 was a big shame, race recorded just for cash.