F1 - 2021

[MiniDave]

Why no tire changes under red flags? All teams get to do it.....

Are you concerned about a team that changed tires just before the pitstop?

[Brit_in_TX]

I dislike the "free" pitstop that it gives drivers and teams when it happens.  Yes, everyone can change the tires during a red flag, but if you changed your tires right before or during the preceding safety car it massively disadvantages the driver.  In other series, no car maintenance is allowed during a red flag, even if there is damage. 

[BruceK]

I'm sure we all remember the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix where Flabbio Briatore and Nelson Piquet Jr artificially created a safety car event (by crashing into the wall) which allowed teammate Alonso to gain the race lead while other cars pitted during the resulting safety car period.  I don't think that kind of cheating would ever be attempted again, but it does point out how a Safety Car, VSC, (and red flag) events can be quite tactically beneficial, but should that type of rapid response to changing situations be outlawed entirely?  e.g. no pitting under a SC or VSC?  Hope not.   But I can see what Craig is saying about work during a red flag period.

[MiniDave]

Well, it's over........and not without controversy too.

Somehow this whole season I've felt like a "fix" was in.....but it certainly has been the most interesting season for the driver's championship in a very long time.

Congrats to the teams and all the engineers, mechanics and transport people who make this show possible.

This may be the last season I get to watch it on TV, Google has decided to get out of the TV business so from now on the only TV we'll get is either OTA or some sort of streaming service and I'm not sure who will be carrying it, or that I can afford enough of the various streaming services to suit SWMBO's needs and mine. I might be down to watching highlights the week after the race.

[MiniDave]

Michael Massi when questioned by Toto after the race about what the hell they were doing said "It's motor racing - we were having a car race Toto"

No matter where you come down in support of the title champion - whether Hammy or Max - it was good hard racing all season, and Hammy certainly won his share of races in the last or very closing laps.

And this was the first year where a competitor was able to race them all season......best year in F1 in a LONG time IMHO.

It will be interesting to see just who comes out of the gate hard in Feb 2022, and whether any other teams will be up there at the front too - I think Toro Rosso.....erm, Alpha Tauri had a terrific season too, and big Mac, Renault...erm, Alpine and even Ferrari had pretty good seasons too.

[BruceK]

My DVR failed to record the race this morning (I was so pissed off when I found it missing!), so I spent the entire day purposely keeping myself in the dark about the race results until I could watch a rebroadcast of it this evening. After the poor start by Max and the obvious much faster car of Lewis, and the fact Lewis was able to keep the lead after his shortcut, things did not look good for Max's chances. By the 20th lap or so it sure seemed like a foregone conclusion that the race, and of course the championship, belonged to Lewis.  And it was just a matter of how badly Max would be beaten.  By the 40th or so lap, my guess was Max would finish at least 8 or 9 seconds behind Lewis - unless something extraordinary happened like the Mercedes engine blowing up.  Like everyone else, I was totally shocked by what happened on the final lap.  Well, not as shocked as Lewis or Toto Wolff!   Can't believe it came down to the final lap of the final race to determine the championship. 

Dave, was Google your only "cable" option?  No Charter or Dish or DirecTV?   I keep seeing ads for YouTube's streaming TV service which is supposed to be comparable to cable TV with 85+ channels, but I haven't researched exactly what it offers. Might be something that could be useful to you.

[MiniDave]

Rose is studying our options, we do have Spectrum Cable (formerly Time Warner) available to us but I swore I would never darken their door again, so.....

We'll probably keep Google internet and go with YouTube TV or Hulu or some such.

All we know for sure at this point is that it will go dark by Feb22

Before today I was so sure that Lewis would win it all again that I decided not to watch the race. It was only when all the bruhaha started showing up on FaceTube and other places that I decided to watch it and see what had actually happened. Even tho I knew the outcome I wasn't sure how they were going to get there in the end until the very end.

That said, Red Bull called a hell of a strategy play and Max took full advantage of it.....even then, Lewis almost pulled it off again - with completely worn out tires no less. There is no quit in that guy when he thinks he can win it.

[BruceK]

The emotions shown by these two F1 fans kind of sums up the final lap roller coaster ride for anyone who wanted to see Max (and Red Bull/Honda) win! 

[Brit_in_TX]

We'll probably keep Google internet and go with YouTube TV or Hulu or some such.

I have Hulu with live tv and have not had any issues with it. 

[Brit_in_TX]

Well that was intense.

Whether it was how the TV edited the radio comments, but it does appear that Michael Masi bent to the demands of the Red Bull pit wall for one more racing lap. 

Mercedes had the perfect opportunity to pit Hamilton immediately after Latifi crashed, but they made a conservative strategy decision (which they have done all year in my opinion).  Also they should have pitted under the Virtual Safety Car for the Alfa Romeo, as so many races have come down to having tires at the end.  Red Bull tried everything to win it and Mercedes tried not to lose it.

Verstappen is a worthy champion, but equally Hamilton would have been.  The people who came out negatively after the final race were Toto Wolff, Christian Horner and Michael Masi.  Wolf and Horner have both come across as cry babies when things don't go their way and it has been a terrible thing to watch. Masi's decision making comes across as inconsistent and he seems to bend who is shouting the loudest.

I suspect there will be a tweak to the rules on who can talk to the Race Director a) during the race and b) during an incident.  Similar in the way the rules changed earlier in the season that Team representatives could not go and see the stewards uninvited during the race.   

I did say in another forum, that I am pretty certain this season will finish in a court room.  As Mercedes have said they are going to consider appealing the results of their initial protests, it seems that is likely. 

[MiniDave]

What good will that do them? They get paid for the constructor's championship - not the driver's - and they won that.

I think they will let it go other than trying to get Masi fired or something.....just to soothe everyone's butthurt.

I agree that the race director's decisions have been "flexible" this year, but I've seen it go MBZ's way more than a few times too.....

I think Red Bull won on strategy and fair to them. Lewis has won his share of races due to better strategy, this time it bit them. Got to say Lewis gave it everything he had and well done to him and Max both. Max won 10 races this year, I think it should not have come down to the last lap of the last race, but it sure did make the championship races more interesting than just seeing one team run off with it.

You get F1 on Hulu? I didn't think they carried it - I know You Tube TV does......

I wonder about next season, with the supposed cap in place that will level the field on development, I wonder if some of the backmarkers might make a surprise move forward again. Otherwise, poor Bought Ass will be watching all his races from the rear from now on.

I would be fun to see the HAAS for example running up where Alpha Tauri is these days.

I also wonder about the Honda engines for next season - even after hiring most of the Honda engineers (or getting them on loan as they said) I question whether they'll have both the power and reliability they've had this season in particular.

[MiniDave]

Oh, and let's talk about the driver's standings for a moment.....by finishing third in the last race Carlos Sainz finished ahead of golden boy Charles LeClerc in the standings - that had to butthurt Char a bit, since he's getting all the big money?

After getting his contract sorted for next year about mid season, Checo seemed to really come forward, and while he finished well back of even Bottas, his 4th place bodes well for Red Bull next year too - assuming they have a competetive car again like this year.

I also hope Ferrari can field better than a third place car.

Lando was as high as 3rd most of the year, but fell off towards the end of the year as development of their car ended about mid year. I expect both him and Danny Ricky Bobby to be in the thick of it next year.

Alonso started out slow but got better and better each race, his racecraft, experience and wiles put him in a better position than the car should have and made bringing him onboard look like a pretty good move for Alpine.

Vettel looked pretty good at times, at others he seemed to be back in the Ferrari and back in the back.....but he looked like he's having fun anyway, and he has to be a good influence and teacher for young Stroll - they finished 6 points apart, and when you're only getting one point per race, that's pretty close.

[Brit_in_TX]

You get F1 on Hulu? I didn't think they carried it - I know You Tube TV does......

Hulu comes with ESPN.

[Brit_in_TX]

What good will that do them? They get paid for the constructor's championship - not the driver's - and they won that.

I think they will let it go other than trying to get Masi fired or something.....just to soothe everyone's butthurt.

I agree that the race director's decisions have been "flexible" this year, but I've seen it go MBZ's way more than a few times too.....

I think Red Bull won on strategy and fair to them. Lewis has won his share of races due to better strategy, this time it bit them. Got to say Lewis gave it everything he had and well done to him and Max both. Max won 10 races this year, I think it should not have come down to the last lap of the last race, but it sure did make the championship races more interesting than just seeing one team run off with it.

You get F1 on Hulu? I didn't think they carried it - I know You Tube TV does......

I wonder about next season, with the supposed cap in place that will level the field on development, I wonder if some of the backmarkers might make a surprise move forward again. Otherwise, poor Bought Ass will be watching all his races from the rear from now on.

I would be fun to see the HAAS for example running up where Alpha Tauri is these days.

I also wonder about the Honda engines for next season - even after hiring most of the Honda engineers (or getting them on loan as they said) I question whether they'll have both the power and reliability they've had this season in particular.

Haas openly said at the beginning of 2021 they would not be developing their 2021 car as they were investing all their wind tunnel and CFM time in the 2022 car.  I do hope it works out for them.  I am surprised that Haas has not been sold to Maze-spin's dad. 

The engine previous known as Honda, will be interesting to see how it develops.  I suspect that Red Bull will sign an automotive brand to name the engines, as it worked well for them with Aston Martin previously.  They also need some super cars to do the driver demos etc in.  Won't make good publicity photos if they are driving around in a McLaren, Ferrari or Mercedes road car!

Also they are moving to 18 inch wheels from 13 inch, so suspension design changes will be needed. Having said that, they have been running the a similar style in F2 for some time, so will probably get the knowledge from there.

[BruceK]

Pretty impressive welcome back to the team home for Max.

[MiniDave]

And to put the final pin in this year's F1 story.....

Mercedes Withdraw Abu Dhabi Appeal

Mercedes has dropped its appeal against the handling of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — confirming the results and Max Verstappen as drivers' champion — but "will hold the FIA accountable" during its review process.

https://racer.com/2021/12/16/mercedes-withdraws-abu-dhabi-appeal/?fbclid=IwAR1BQPIZPluzbCFpmAPciaFr8FRID5rx4fkBTt1PFti4PRjFTQsVLZcwVZ4

[Brit_in_TX]

And to put the final pin in this year's F1 story.....

Mercedes Withdraw Abu Dhabi Appeal

Mercedes has dropped its appeal against the handling of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — confirming the results and Max Verstappen as drivers' champion — but "will hold the FIA accountable" during its review process.

https://racer.com/2021/12/16/mercedes-withdraws-abu-dhabi-appeal/?fbclid=IwAR1BQPIZPluzbCFpmAPciaFr8FRID5rx4fkBTt1PFti4PRjFTQsVLZcwVZ4

Absolutely the right thing to do!

[MiniDave]

OK, one last thing to talk about in the F1 2021 season....

Here is a list of what the crash damage cost the teams per driver.....

Starting with the least:

20) Ocon - $316K

19) Alonso - $355K

18) Vettel - $744K

17) Ricky Bobby - $804K

16) Giovanazzi - $965K

15) Checo - $1.09M

14) Gasly - $1.256M

13) Hamster - $1.416M

12) Norris - $1.639M

11) Sainz - $1,981M

10 Russell - $2.082M

9) Kimster - - $2.2M

8 ) Mazespin - $2.785M

7) Yuki - $2.941M

6) Stroll - $3.31M

5) Bought-Ass  - $3.311M

4) Latifi - $3.517M

3) Max - $4.389M

2) LeClerc - $4.56M

1) Schumi Jr - $4.754

so. by team but not in any particular order

Alpine - $671K

Aston - $3.775M

Mac - $2.443M

Alfa - $3.163M

Ferrari $6.547M

Williams - $5.99M

Merc - $4.726M

HAAS - $7.539M

Red Bull - $5.448M

AlphaT - $4.197M

Interesting to see what this does to a team's cap - especially the smaller teams.