Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021Formula 1

[NLxAROSA]

Regardless of outcome, I'm quite sure that it will all be discussed in a respectful and civilised manner on social media.

(Though I'd love to see a Dutch champion, my bet's on Hamilton)

 

[Fat Tyre]

As a Red Bull fan I don’t know if my nerves can actually take watching this as it was bad enough last race! It feels like the Euros final against Italy all over again - although that time I was convinced England would win but now I’m convinced RB will lose. I think that the Baku loss was a big blow looking back - the RB only seemed to outperform the Mercs on certain tracks and that was definitely one of them.

Still, think Max has done phenomenally well to bring the fight to Lewis in an inferior car with a team mate often out of play in terms of providing assistance. Plus, Max is significantly younger than Lewis - makes me wonder what Max will be like in his 30s! It would be so incredible to see RB/Honda taking a win but not getting my hopes up. If Max does win though I want a film called Honda vs Mercedes like the Ford vs Ferrari one about Le Mans.

That's weird, I thought this year Red Bull had the superior car for most of the season. It wasn't until Brazil that I thought maybe, mayyybe Hamilton had a chance. In fact seeing Max's pace in quali at Kashoggi GP made me think that they had recovered their pace advantage. And perhaps they have, the race was so weird that we probably didn't get to see their real performance.

 

[ScottPuss20]

Well whoever starts on the inside is sure to make a divebomb into the first corner and shove the other driver off. Whoever leads coming out of turn 5 will park it on the inside and force the other driver round the outside heading into turns 6 and 7. If Verstappen is the one on the outside, he'll cut turn 7 to ensure that Hamilton doesn't keep his spot after he pushes him wide. They'll then be side by side going into turn 9 and Hamilton will brake as deep as he possibly can to push Verstappen wide. If Verstappen tries to turn in on Hamilton, he'll break his front wing. In this case, Hamilton will get ahead of Verstappen heading into the next braking zone at turn 12. Verstappen will undoubtedly launch another attack on Hamilton and either run into the side or the back of him, with both cars receiving damage. If it isn't terminal, both cars will race into the pits and whoever fixes the damage fastest will win the race and the championship. If both cars retire, Verstappen wins the championship on countback.

Oh boy this race will be dirty.

 

[AshenGraey]

Well whoever starts on the inside is sure to make a divebomb into the first corner and shove the other driver off. Whoever leads coming out of turn 5 will park it on the inside and force the other driver round the outside heading into turns 6 and 7. If Verstappen is the one on the outside, he'll cut turn 7 to ensure that Hamilton doesn't keep his spot after he pushes him wide. They'll then be side by side going into turn 8 and Hamilton will brake as deep as he possibly can to push Verstappen wide. If Verstappen tries to turn in on Hamilton, he'll break his front wing. In this case, Hamilton will get ahead of Verstappen heading into the next braking zone at turn 10. Verstappen will undoubtedly launch another attack on Hamilton and either run into the side or the back of him, with both cars receiving damage. If it isn't terminal, both cars will race into the pits and whoever fixes the damage fastest will win the race and the championship. If both cars retire, Verstappen wins the championship on countback.

Oh boy this race will be dirty.

Oh boy....I really hope the events of the next race will not unfold that way because if they do, you've already spoiled it that race for everyone LOL 😂

 

[ND4SPD]

Lewis's pov when it's lights out....

 

[Fat Tyre]

If I were Hamilton I would probably gamble getting a new Rocket® engine and the subsequent 5 grid place penalty. That way perhaps Max could be avoided on the first lap. Then once things are settled you overtake mid race down one of those long straights thanks to all that extra power.

But then again the other solution is to hope both Mercedes qualify in a front row lockout and Bottas does the job of keeping Max at bay at least for the first few turns. Sadly I think we've not seen the worst of Max yet and not even those measures will be enough to fend off from his crazy antics.

 

[Samus]

Nobody is going to take a new engine here, it's way too risky on a partially new track.

Wild tangent but I really wish we still had Murray for these races, he commentated deciders and big incidents far better than just saying what you'd normally say but shouting and screaming it, as Crofty does.

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

I'm hoping for a Hamilton win, as long as it's a fair fight. After Verstappen's driving standards in the latter half of this year has made me think he wouldn't be as worthy. It's gonna be such a tense race though.

He's still got plenty of time to win a WDC however, Lewis is on the tail end of his career and an 8th title would seal the deal nicely. Top of race wins, championships, pole positions etc, these are the 3 records everyone remembers.

 

[Grayfox]

Lewis will win.
They will use the engine from Brazil.

IIRC it was removed after brazil.
So they will stick it back in and enter warp.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Wonder what odds you'd get on Lewis retiring if he wins the 8th title.

 

[Grayfox]

Wonder what odds you'd get on Lewis retiring if he wins the 8th title.

Wonder if he will when his contract expires if he doesn't win.

As next year rule change and its anyones game.
Coupled with the fact at Russell will be his team mate.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Wonder if he will when his contract expires if he doesn't win.

As next year rule change and its anyones game.
Coupled with the fact at Russell will be his team mate.

Be interesting to see. He's contracted until 2023 as it stands but Nico Rosberg had a contract until 2018 before walking away, so it's not unprecedented.

Unlikely, but a hunch no less.

 

[Blitz24]

Has there ever been a tie on points? I know it could happen if they finish 9th and 10th with the 10th place car getting fastest lap.

 

[Famine]

Has there ever been a tie on points?

No. Closest ever championship was 1984, with Lauda winning by half a point from Prost.

 

[Samus]

Lewis will win.
They will use the engine from Brazil.

IIRC it was removed after brazil.
So they will stick it back in and enter warp.

He already used it in Saudi, so it has more miles on it now.

 

[TheCracker]

Would it not be Verstappens championship if they tied on point due to the amount of wins?

 

[Blitz24]

Would it not be Verstappens championship if they tied on point due to the amount of wins?

It would be Max's championship due to the first tie-breaker.

 

[Pupik]

Shame there's no chance of rain...

... or Timo Glock.

Or Vitaly Petrov.

So looking forward to this race with equal parts excitement and dread.

 

[Samus]

Would it not be Verstappens championship if they tied on point due to the amount of wins?

Indeed, and that extra win was the race that wasn't a race in Spa. But the next qualifier, second places, Max is also leading 8-7, so there would be no controversy in that aspect. Well, except that Max gained 5 points on him for doing nothing, of course.

But anyway as has been said, fans of the losing driver are going to be making these what if arguments for years, but what happened and happpened and whoever is crowned champion is champion.

 

[Blitz24]

Indeed, and that extra win was the race that wasn't a race in Spa. But the next qualifier, second places, Max is also leading 8-7, so there would be no controversy in that aspect. Well, except that Max gained 5 points on him for doing nothing, of course.

But anyway as has been said, fans of the losing driver are going to be making these what if arguments for years, but what happened and happpened and whoever is crowned champion is champion.

Possibly a 2nd dumb question, but does a driver need to be classified to score points? (If 10 drivers fall out of the race and Lewis and Max collide and both retire, do neither of them record a point?)

 

[Jimlaad43]

I suppose the question is: Who will become the next Glock or Petrov? Will Lewis or Max be far enough back for that to ever be an issue anyway?

 

[Pupik]

Possibly a 2nd dumb question, but does a driver need to be classified to score points? (If 10 drivers fall out of the race and Lewis and Max collide and both retire, do neither of them record a point?)

Yes, by completing 90% of the race distance.

Which ever driver is able to freewheel their stricken vehicle further after an incident/failure decides who is classified higher than another, all other things being equal (same number of laps completed, no penalties).

I don't think we've had a race in many years in which there less classified finishers than available points-paying positions. The 2005 United States GP had 6 starters and that worked out great if you had Bridgestones.

Detroit 1984 would be the last one with a full field; exactly six cars finished, but Brundle was disqualified from 2nd place a few months later. (All of Tyrrell's finishes in 1984 were removed from the championship, and subsequent finishes were later adjusted.) So nobody finished 6th.

The 1982 San Marino GP featured 14 starters and 5 actual finishers due to most FOCA-aligned teams sitting out in protest. (The lone non-FISA team? Tyrrell...many of their sponsors were brought in from Michele Alboreto, so Ken didn't want to annoy the sponsors' home race.) Also, Ferrari won but later suffered from a plague upon both houses.

The last normal full-field race without disqualifications, but did not award all available points to finishers, would be 1970 Spanish GP. If you can count the inferno that consumed Jackie Oliver's car (mercifully, not Mr. Oliver) as "normal". After all, he'd would later be involved with Shadow, then Arrows, but most importantly, there's a vague link to Super Aguri.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Max vs Lewis gonna be like....

 

[PorscheFan91]

That's weird, I thought this year Red Bull had the superior car for most of the season. It wasn't until Brazil that I thought maybe, mayyybe Hamilton had a chance. In fact seeing Max's pace in quali at Kashoggi GP made me think that they had recovered their pace advantage. And perhaps they have, the race was so weird that we probably didn't get to see their real performance.

I’d say at the beginning of the year they seemed pretty evenly matched, with the RB better on some tracks like street circuits and the Merc better on the regular circuits. However, my feeling is that in the latter half of the year we’ve seen a return to true Mercedes dominance.

Wonder what odds you'd get on Lewis retiring if he wins the 8th title.

Extremely high I feel - he’d have beaten Schumi and I think with the reg changes and budget caps we probably won’t see car dominance in the way we’ve done so I doubt anyone would ever beat him. There seems to be a vibe from his interviews (especially the Beyond the Grid one) that there’s more to life than motorsport for him and he has other interests he wants to pursue. I’d be very surprised if he sticks around beyond 2022.

 

[O604]

I'm not a regular F1 fan. Haven't really been paying attention this decade TBH.

But I seriously think Hamilton should quit just before the race. I have every faith Hamilton will excel at whatever he does next and be remember beyond the F1.

I feel it's obvious the old boys don't want him to beat the record. I say let them keep it. It's all they have. It's almost sad watching how desperate they are.

The UK gossip manufactures are floating Ecclestone quotes now claiming Hamilton is bullying Verstappen. F1 is like figure skating.

 

[MatskiMonk]

be remember beyond the F1.

I've only heard one song from his 'music' career so far, and it was pretty forgettable.

 

[TheCracker]

There was an interview with him that aired with the C4 highlights program last Sunday, he stated that he still feels he's got much to do (in F1) even though he's one of the older drivers in the field. I can't see him retiring at the end of this season, even if he does clinch that 8th title.

A turn down in form for Merc under the new regs in 2022 and he might start thinking about it.

Unlike say, Seb, i don't think Lewis is particularly motivated by beating records. If just racing and winning is what motivates you, if you are still in a position to keep doing so, and you still enjoy it, why stop?

 

[Liquid]

I'd like Verstappen to win.
I think Hamilton will win.

 

[McLaren]

I'm not a regular F1 fan. Haven't really been paying attention this decade TBH.

But I seriously think Hamilton should quit just before the race. I have every faith Hamilton will excel at whatever he does next and be remember beyond the F1.

I feel it's obvious the old boys don't want him to beat the record. I say let them keep it. It's all they have. It's almost sad watching how desperate they are.

The UK gossip manufactures are floating Ecclestone quotes now claiming Hamilton is bullying Verstappen. F1 is like figure skating.

I was wondering what you meant by the old boys til' I saw you mention Ecclestone, lol.

"No, not at all. In fact, I'm surprised that Lewis didn't say at the beginning of the year: I'm resigning, I don't want to win more races or world championships than Michael,"

Klare Worte von Bernie Ecclestone: Hamilton hätte für Schumi abtreten müssen

Wenn Lewis Hamilton den WM-Kampf gewinnt, ist er alleiniger Rekordhalter. Für Ecclestone bleibt trotzdem Schumi der Größte aller Zeiten.

www.rtl.de

Yeah, I saw him speaking as if Max is still a child, claiming he only has a few years in the sport. Iirc, he's got 7 years behind him, basically half the amount Lewis does. He should be well adjusted by now to what the sport entails.

 

[toastet]

I think I'm more like the drivers in this case. I just don't understand this "retire at the right moment"-thing. As long as you have the chance to drive the fastest racing cars and get paid for doing this just do it. Why would you stop this if there aren't viable things like taking more time for your kids or you just fed up travelling. But they just don't care if they can be beaten by someone younger, other faster cars, etc. This doesn't take anything away what has been achieved before and it just doesn't matter while getting paid racing the fastest cars around the world. This is just a fan and media thing. No driver who just loves to race in F1 cares about the moment of retiring with any thoughts on the "right moment". Button, Davidson, Di Resta all would jump in a car if they get offered the seat. No matter they wouldn't have the chance to win. Look at Kimi, Vettel, Alonso, they all knew before signing their actual contracts that chances of fighting for wins would be close to zero but that just doesn't matter. Just ask Hülkenberg 🤣