Anyway what about the iceman Shame his last race ended early & his retirement from F1 was totally overshadowed
Before i sign off from this discussion for a bit. just a thought for those who might support the comments "let them race" and "the race shouldn't end under the safety car". Id refer you back to the Belgian Grand Prix. Clearly Verstappen benefitted significantly from a weekend without racing which he followed the safety car around for a few laps and everyone got half points. Who would have thought eh!
I just assumed it was because he was one of the cars between Verstappen and Hamilton and RB wanted him out of the way as at that point it was stated by race control that the lapped cars wouldn't be allowed to unlap themselves. He was hardly going to hold up MV but 1 less car to pass would still save a vital fraction of a second and help string out the cars slightly.
On being forced to cut the corner, he actually retained his place but gained 2 seconds - and I believe he slowed slightly so that the original time spacing was returned .
So much crap being talked about. Fact is, it was a farce. Masi ought to be fired. Max was gifted this win. SC came in a lap too early. I think I’ve given up. It’s not sport. It’s entertainment. I’m guessing that’s what liberty want.
It started on the slippery slope of changing from sport to entertainment when Bernie Ecclestone got all the teams to sign the Concorde Agreement in 1981. He got very, very rich, lots of others became very wealthy, and the public got entertained. We are where we are.
Yes, I think that Verstappen probably ended up in 3rd place behind Perez after his final pit stop. It was a clever move because it made a big difference once the back markers (at least those that Horner requested to be moved out of the way) had cleared the Safety car. I was wondering how much money Mercedes might lose out on through not winning the drivers championship (winnings, sponsorship etc). If I were them I’d be thinking about suing the FIA for loss of earnings. Let the courts decide whether the FIA were in breach of their own rules by bringing the Safety car one lap early and clearing just a selection of back markers when it was obvious that those 2 actions would enable Verstappen to win a race that he had very little chance of winning without. Just saying.
I think the fact that Verstappen is opting to race with number 1 next year says a lot about the... erm... chap
Sponsorship money may be dented, but the prize money is for the constructors championship not the drivers. It’s actually a bit of a win win situation
moving on.... this should help ! thoughts.... https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...l-new-2022-f1-car.4OLg8DrXyzHzdoGrbqp6ye.html