2021 Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

eco2006 · Dec 18, 2021

muzikant said:
you don't understand me you stop looking F1 I don't understand

Less buttons, more? Or less and more communication?

keto95 · Dec 18, 2021

cerebralvortex said:
Can you blame Lewis from walking away when you practically won your 8th WDC and it was taken from you? Such a sad story really.. So wrong.

Matchfixing, sponsored by the FIA. "Hope you enjoyed the show!"

muzikant · Dec 18, 2021

keto95 said:
Matchfixing, sponsored by the FIA. "Hope you enjoyed the show!"

maybe you shouldn't watch too much skysport

keto95 · Dec 18, 2021

muzikant said:
maybe you shouldn't watch too much skysport

"Many viewers wanted a different 'champion'. You wanted it to happen in the last race, especially in the last lap. We did it for you. Our apologies we couldn't make it happen in the last turn."

Signed: Michael Masi.

BrainsBush · Dec 18, 2021

F1 teams principals' Top 10 drivers of 2021:

Position	Driver	Points	Previous year
1	Max Verstappen	188	Up 1
2	Lewis Hamilton	174	Down 1
3	Lando Norris	100	Up 4
4	Carlos Sainz	70	Up 4
5	Fernando Alonso	63	Re-entry
6	Charles Leclerc	58	Down 3
7	Pierre Gasly	56	Up 3
8	George Russell	44	Down 2
9	Valtteri Bottas	43	No change
10	Esteban Ocon	41	Re-entry

Also the team bosses voted for Max as best driver of 2021.

Stuart Thomson · Dec 18, 2021

Damage Inc said:
agreed, I don't think that race was fair either, neither was Silverstone, Bahrain and a few more. IMO more decisions favoured Merc/Lewis over the year.

Disagree on that, personally - but that's not what I'm on about.

muzikant · Dec 18, 2021

keto95 said:
"Many viewers wanted a different 'champion'. You wanted it to happen in the last race, especially in the last lap. We did it for you. Our apologies we couldn't make it happen in the last turn."

Signed: Michael Masi.

Merry Christmas

Damage Inc · Dec 18, 2021

Stuart Thomson said:
Disagree on that, personally - but that's not what I'm on about.

I presume your point is why did Spa finish behind the safety car and Abu Shabi did not?

Stuart Thomson · Dec 18, 2021

Damage Inc said:
I presume your point is why did Spa finish behind the safety car and Abu Shabi did not?

Sort of, but not 100%. Someone said that if Abu Dhabi finished behind a safety car that would have been "unfair" on Verstappen. I just mentioned Spa off the back of that, as it had set a precedent already this season, so it clearly is not an unfair set of circumstances.

As I've said, I'm not particularly a Hamilton fan, but I do feel for him on this one. Those choices by Race Control decided the Championship - not "affected", but "decided". If it had gone the other way, I'd expect Red Bull to be feeling the same way as Mecredes, and I'd still feel pretty unsatisfied with the results. The issue here is that it was the last race - no more races to even the balance. Control interfered in a different way to other precedents with no chance for the affected team to get it back.

Damage Inc · Dec 18, 2021

Stuart Thomson said:
Sort of, but not 100%. Someone said that if Abu Dhabi finished behind a safety car that would have been "unfair" on Verstappen. I just mentioned Spa off the back of that, as it had set a precedent already this season, so it clearly is not an unfair set of circumstances.

As I've said, I'm not particularly a Hamilton fan, but I do feel for him on this one. Those choices by Race Control decided the Championship - not "affected", but "decided". If it had gone the other way, I'd expect Red Bull to be feeling the same way as Mecredes, and I'd still feel pretty unsatisfied with the results. The issue here is that it was the last race - no more races to even the balance. Control interfered in a different way to other precedents with no chance for the affected team to get it back.

Spa was a one off really because it was the condtions that dicatated how the race ended, whereas Abu Dhabi had no such weather issue. I can indeed see why some would point to it and concur it set a level of precedence. But as we saw all year....consistancy within the FIA was a real issue, and I think there's very few people who'd disagree with that and it probably unites Lewis and Max fans as well!

Mike Kadlcak · Dec 22, 2021

Not biased opinion from one of the GOATs.

I agree 100% what he said.

Damage Inc · Dec 22, 2021

Mike Kadlcak said:
Not biased opinion from one of the GOATs.

I agree 100% what he said.

This is the problem with opinions even from those within the sport, he says what actually happened wasn't following the "rules" yet said it should have been a red flag...which ALSO wouldn't be following the rules. A red flag is for very specific track conditions, Latifi's crash did NOT warrant a red flag.

Ultimately I'm not sure where FIA goes from here, other than that section of the rules either needs to be changed to specifically ALLOW a last lap and any manipulation of SC is explicitly allowed under the rules to faciltate a last lap shootout, or to explicitly make it clear that the only two choices for lapped cars is "all or none". I can't imagine FIA leaving that section of the rules as is.

jonelsorel · Dec 22, 2021

One for the money, two for the show. Or still for the money. F1 at its top.

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/994885/1/no-refunds-f1-fans-who-attended-belgian-gp-washout

Stuart Thomson · Dec 26, 2021

Damage Inc said:
Ultimately I'm not sure where FIA goes from here, other than that section of the rules either needs to be changed to specifically ALLOW a last lap and any manipulation of SC is explicitly allowed under the rules to faciltate a last lap shootout, or to explicitly make it clear that the only two choices for lapped cars is "all or none".

Again though, the unlapped cars wording seems clear enough to me. If a car has been lapped, then it falls under the "any lapped cars" criteria. So if "any lapped cars" is the wording, it automatically covers all cars that meet that criteria - there's no equivocation there. If it were anything else, there would be subsequent wording to identify which lapped cars do not need to abide by the first part, or it would say "some, at the Race Directors discretion". It's all-or-none already (basically "all"), which is why there's a big old hoo-hah in the first place.

Likewise, any manipulation of SC processes to allow a last lap shootout is open to abuse, interpretation, circumstance, etc...and again it comes AFTER a stinky end to a season where rules were not followed, and the main trophy decided, not affected - decided, by iffy decision making. It would be too late to be anything other than codifying mistakes post-hoc to cover their own arses.

I have no issue with you Damage, beyond disagreeing with your premise, this is more an indicator of just how badly the FIA did.

Damage Inc · Dec 26, 2021

Stuart Thomson said:
Again though, the unlapped cars wording seems clear enough to me. If a car has been lapped, then it falls under the "any lapped cars" criteria. So if "any lapped cars" is the wording, it automatically covers all cars that meet that criteria - there's no equivocation there. If it were anything else, there would be subsequent wording to identify which lapped cars do not need to abide by the first part, or it would say "some, at the Race Directors discretion". It's all-or-none already (basically "all"), which is why there's a big old hoo-hah in the first place.

Likewise, any manipulation of SC processes to allow a last lap shootout is open to abuse, interpretation, circumstance, etc...and again it comes AFTER a stinky end to a season where rules were not followed, and the main trophy decided, not affected - decided, by iffy decision making. It would be too late to be anything other than codifying mistakes post-hoc to cover their own arses.

I have no issue with you Damage, beyond disagreeing with your premise, this is more an indicator of just how badly the FIA did.

There's enough ambiguity for legal reasons though. That's why it needs to be explicitley stated, if not Lawyers will argue till the cows come home and their bank balances grow exponentially. It's why Merc havn't pressed this in court (I don't care what Hamilton is reprted to have said, if Merc could win this legally they'd appeal).

The thing is if there was time to let just 2 more cars past (I think it was 2, maybe 3) and unlap then all the hoohah wouldn't happen, we're talking 20-30 seconds. Such a tiny amount of time compared to the whole season of racing, so the result is less about the manipulation of the SC and rather about the situation Latifi's crash caused, which turned the race on it's head and gave Max a real opportunity to get the result, now I don't see how it's fair to deny Max the chance to fight. Because he still had to fight on that last lap, whereas finishing behind the SC removes all chance of a fight. Masi had 2 choices 1 directly would DECIDE the title, the other would "influence" the title. I still think he made the better choice, but I'm biased as I hate the Hybrid era of Merc dominance (which along with DRS has ruined F1 for me).

I also don't believe the word "fair" should ever be used in the same sentence that also includes "Formula 1", I don't really think there's a more unequal and unfair sport on the planet!!!!

One thing's for sure, as people still argue/discuss Prost V Senna, this will be argued/discussed over the next 40 years.

Stuart Thomson · Dec 26, 2021

Still disagree, but no matter.

Look at it this way, 20 coins on a table, you touch 7.
The instruction is "pick up any coins you touched". How many do you pick up?

But I agree, this is so controversial, its going down for posterity, and there will always be a cloud or a discussion over it.

davehenrie · Dec 26, 2021

Stuart Thomson said:
Still disagree, but no matter.

Look at it this way, 20 coins on a table, you touch 7.
The instruction is "pick up any coins you touched". How many do you pick up?

But I agree, this is so controversial, its going down for posterity, and there will always be a cloud or a discussion over it.

I START to pick up 7, but before I finish I point over your shoulder and say: "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?" and then, while you turn to look, I pick up all 20!

Stuart Thomson · Dec 27, 2021

davehenrie said:
I START to pick up 7, but before I finish I point over your shoulder and say: "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?" and then, while you turn to look, I pick up all 20!

You clearly work for the FIA, Dave - no matter how much you screw with the issue at hand, you somehow end up with all the cash.

Sasha Jednak · Jan 7, 2022

Stuart Thomson said:
Still disagree, but no matter.

Look at it this way, 20 coins on a table, you touch 7.
The instruction is "pick up any coins you touched". How many do you pick up?

But I agree, this is so controversial, its going down for posterity, and there will always be a cloud or a discussion over it.

Isn't it a bit different here: YOU (being Massi in this example) have option to tell me to pick up all touched coins (by 1 rule), but YOU also have option to tell me to pick up only 2 coins of those I touched (by 2nd rule)?

In both cases you are correct and in both cases I will not be happy with decision, because one part of me (fan base) wants to take all coins and other part of me wants to take none of them.

Stuart Thomson · Jan 8, 2022

Sasha Jednak said:
Isn't it a bit different here: YOU (being Massi in this example) have option to tell me to pick up all touched coins (by 1 rule), but YOU also have option to tell me to pick up only 2 coins of those I touched (by 2nd rule)?

In both cases you are correct and in both cases I will not be happy with decision, because one part of me (fan base) wants to take all coins and other part of me wants to take none of them.

Disagree, mostly because I'm not aware of any Rule 2, and I (Masi) can't pick and choose because the only rule says "any", and not "some at the RD's discretion", which is the point.

I (Masi) am also governed by the rules for the procedures, and that says "any lapped cars". I understood the whole "Race Director has control over SC etc" to mean he can deploy or withdraw the SC at his discretion - which is right and correct and I don't believe ANY sides of the argument would disagree with that part... but he has to follow the regulations when doing so, so the Teams know how to act in the situation. It doesn't appear he did, which is my issue, personally.

1	Max VERSTAPPEN	Red Bull	1:22.109
2	Lewis HAMILTON	Mercedes	1:22.480
3	Lando NORRIS	McLaren	1:22.931
4	Sergio PÉREZ	Red Bull	1:22.947
5	Carlos SAINZ	Ferrari	1:22.992
6	Valtteri BOTTAS	Mercedes	1:23.036
7	Charles LECLERC	Ferrari	1:23.122
8	Yuki TSUNODA	Alpha Tauri	1:23.220
9	Esteban OCON	Alpine	1:23.389
10	Daniel RICCIARDO	McLaren	1:23.409
11	Fernando ALONSO	Alpine	1:23.460
12	Pierre GASLY	Alpha Tauri	1:24.043
13	Lance STROLL	Aston Martin	1:24.066
14	Antonio GIOVINAZZI	Alfa Romeo	1:24.251
15	Sebastian VETTEL	Aston Martin	1:24.305
16	Nicholas LATIFI	Williams	1:24.338
17	George RUSSELL	Williams	1:24.423
18	Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN	Alfa Romeo	1:24.779
19	Mick SCHUMACHER	Haas	1:24.906
20	Nikita MAZEPIN	Haas	1:25.685

1	Max VERSTAPPEN	Red Bull	LAP 58
2	Lewis HAMILTON	Mercedes	2.256
3	Carlos SAINZ	Ferrari	5.173
4	Yuki TSUNODA	Alpha Tauri	5.692
5	Pierre GASLY	Alpha Tauri	6.531
6	Valtteri BOTTAS	Mercedes	7.463
7	Lando NORRIS	McLaren	59.2
8	Fernando ALONSO	Alpine	61.708
9	Esteban OCON	Alpine	64.026
10	Charles LECLERC	Ferrari	66.057
11	Sebastian VETTEL	Aston Martin	67.527
12	Daniel RICCIARDO	McLaren	+1L
13	Lance STROLL	Aston Martin	+1L
14	Mick SCHUMACHER	Haas	+1L
15	Sergio PÉREZ	Red Bull	DNF
16	Nicholas LATIFI	Williams	DNF
17	Antonio GIOVINAZZI	Alfa Romeo	DNF
18	George RUSSELL	Williams	DNF
19	Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN	Alfa Romeo	DNF

2021 Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Who will win the 2021 World Championship?

Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton

Qualification Results​

Race Results​

Comments

F1 teams principals' Top 10 drivers of 2021:​

Article information

Share this article

Special events

More leagues

Prizes

Trophies

Forum trophies

Livestreams

Easier access

Other? post your reason

Qualification Results

Race Results

F1 teams principals' Top 10 drivers of 2021: