Sky analyst believes Verstappen win was just: 'Abu Dhabi was not'.
Ted Kravitz calls the victory of Max Verstappen in Monza a justified result. According to the Briton, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix should have ended the same way.
When Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren stalled on the side of the track in the closing stages of the race, the FIA had to act quickly to restart the race. However, it took some time for the marshals to get the car off the track, leaving not enough time to restart the race. Verstappen eventually won behind the safety car, and Charles Leclerc didn't get the chance to fight for victory from P2.
Several team bosses and drivers expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the race ended. The fans too would have preferred an exciting final phase. According to the FIA, however, the rules were followed correctly.
'Monza was a fair result, as Abu Dhabi was not'
During the Sky Sports broadcast, Damon Hill asks the following: "There will be people watching saying ‘is that what should have happened in Abu Dhabi?'” Kravitz responds: "Yes, it was." In 2021, Michael Masi decided to unlap only the cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, giving Verstappen the chance on the very last lap to overtake Hamilton for the title victory on fresher tyres. "Was the race director playing it steady? Yes. Could he be quicker? Yes. Was it a just result, in the way Abu Dhabi wasn’t? Yes, it was a just result.”
It doesn’t matter what we think MV deserved in 2021, in failing to correctly apply the rules Masi stole the WDC from Hamilton and gifted it to Max. C’mon, it’s time for you fanboys to admit it.
Surprise surprise ! A Sky bottom feeder still on about 2021 and can’t move on ! Yawn . Verstappen is champion move on it’s done queen Lewis is gone .
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Abu Dhabi was not according to the rules - to which opportunists will always refer to when it suits them - but it was justified because the only reason that it was so close, was because Verstappen was three times denied full points due to others (Pirelli, Hamilton (deliberately), Bottas). It was this simple so lets close that chapter and move on with our life.
Monza made Abu Dhabi look not so bad. The real issue that Mercedes fans intentionally avoid, is that Lewis lost the championship on his own. Turn #5 at Abu Dhabi was a massive error on Lewis' part. Instead of covering the inside at turn #5 and using the Mercedes power to defend the straights, Lewis chose to leave the inside wide open for Max to pass. Max won the championship legitimately. Lewis' poor wheel-to-wheel skills cost him a championship in 2021.
Why everybody talks about last race last year? They don’t metion: 1 st last race first lap when LH gain advantage and Madi closed his eyes 2nd first race when LH cut a corner 29 times and Masi closed his eyes 3rd rule change about flexi rear wing despite RB was IN the regulations(just an innovation like DAS where no rule change came over in the middle of the season) 4th Pit stop came slowest after Toto request about safety with ZERO INCIDENTS 5th Brazilian GP LH run with the same spec rear wing like the one which FIA took cause was illegal (they haven’t another spec and from 26th came first) 6th Silverstone was just a black flag like Michael Shumacher’s cause LH nearly killed the guy who was the real threat for Champion. Everyone close his eyes! Everyone! Toto was sending emails to influence Masi all these years! Merc was parting with regulations all time! Last lap was just justice for all these! And it was legal! Regulations was saying “any” and not “all”!
It was legal as per the regulations but it was still the wrong way to go. BUT, Masi SHOULD've let all lapped cars through the lap before, as the track was clear enough. Masi listened to Toto who was whining and trying to influence him to keep lapped cars behind Max and Hamilton, after Mercedes made the blunder of keeping Hamilton out with very old hards. Since Masi didn't let the lapped cars through on the lap before the one he did, any action after that would be wrong, whether that was what he ended up doing, or not letting lapped cars through, or finishing the race behind the safety car, all wrong. But what he did do, in the end, was justice for, as you've said, all the times Mercedes and Hamilton were favoured during the season. And when someone mentions Brazil, that was a wrong decision as well, clearly made to try and take the finale to the final race. The real mistakes that led to the Abu Dhabi fiasco were overworking the lone race director with a massive burden of responsibilities, and letting team principals pester him directly on the radio. It was silly, and broadcasting the messages even sillier, attempting to create intrigue and more of a show. Now they're trying to overcompensate with an inflexible team for the race direction, that's showing more and more inconsistencies and, in Monza, fear to take action. Again, the track was clear enough, in Monza, to let all lapped cars through, and finish with a racing final lap.
I think the rules were not followed correctly in Abu Dhabi. However, the rules were also not applied correctly at other instances throughout the 2021 season. If the rules would have been correctly applied in all situations, the championship outcome would have been the same.
Two different class of races, monza was a normal race, AD 2021 was a title deciding race where both drivers had a chance to win, stats show Verstappen was the best driver in 2021, and it all came down to the last race, one cant not treat the SD race like normal, the race DIR had to the 2 driver a chance at winning it witch is what he did, with out breaking the rules
Sky News? Who cares? Either way Max wins because he’s always up front when the flag falls. Masi didn’t break any rules. He just applied them in a way that Mercedes wasn’t prepared for after all those years of coasting in first place. Some people are still trying to change reality.
Poor Teddy. He wonders why drivers and team members turn and walk in the other direction when they see him bouncing towards them with mic in hand unless he surprises them from behind. Even then, if he gets more than 5 seconds with them he's done well.
Max's victory in this way is not a coincidence, but a miracle that made the pain Max experienced from Mercedes during the year joy in the end, while the greed and power of Mercedes became a fatal pain in the end as well.
1. Kravitz and Croft are fans first, commentators second. 2. Regardless of one’s opinion on Masi’s handling of the race in AD, honest analysis reveals that years of not having to truly race severely hampered Mercedes and LH. Their late race strategy was faulty and naive and Hamilton himself drove that last lap like a novice. His lack of defense at turn five was staggeringly inept. His team let him down by leaving him on old boots, but new ones were not required for him to keep the door closed there. Had he done that, he likely could have held off MV for the lap given his significantly superior top speed. Verstappen knew this and rightly decided turn five was his best shot at overtaking. All was not lost when Masi made the call to go racing. Even LH knows this. He didn’t make his “feels like this is being manipulated man!” remark until it was clear he would lose. Regardless of Masi’s decision, Mercedes and Lewis still held their fate in their own hands. Max walked up and took it from them.
As any F1 driver would do . Nicelly Put btw Trail_Runner .
Well put Sir. So many here don’t understand that racing is unpredictable and that disappointments happen. In their minds they gave Lewis the championship though the race was not over. Sometimes unpredictable things happen, like you could be taken out by Bottas through no fault of your own and you lose points. I for one agree that the race should not have ended under the safety car and was glad Max and Lewis got a chance to race it out. Lewis was sleeping the whole year and due to his upgrades, came alive in the last 4 races. If he won, it was coz of Max’s bad luck, not Lewis’ driving. As a pure racer always looking for a challenge, Lewis should be glad that he didn’t win a championship he merely inherited and did not fully earn. In any case it sorted itself out in the end, whatever the circumstances were, whatever the rules were, Max overtook on track and the best man won. The same best man is still winning.
What a bunch of ridiculous comments. The rules are the rules and they are not subject to your fanboy preference. Of course the Ferrari fans wanted another chance for Leclerc to overtake Verstappen but they would have had a COMPLETELY different opinion if Leclerc had been ahead with Verstappen behind. Then the Red Bull fans still stressing how Max "deserved" the title in 2021. Of course he did but so did Hamilton. Bottom line Masi BROKE the rules while it was his job to ENFORCE the rules and directly handed over the title to Max. A gift. It doesn`t matter what the fanboys think is nicer. The rules are that ALL lapped cars should be allowed to unlap themselves before a restart. It would be reasonably acceptable if he did not allow ANY lapped cars to unlap themselves but he chose to cherry-pick and unlap only the cars between Max and Lewis. In other words he just cleared the way for Max. There is no way he didn`t know what would happen and that he was breaking the rules. He GAVE the championship to Max on a plate and I`m pretty sure Horner had a LOT to do with it. "Let them race Michael"...
A lot of text that is full of bs. Lewis had the choice as his team did to get fresh tyres during the SC Then Max wouldnt have won.. Deal with or just stay stuck in the past. As is Max is looking at his 2nd WDC at 24 years old ,so another 13 years to catchup ? Recon there should be another 5 or 6 in there somewhere!
I don't think the comments are ridiculous. Let's forget the past and focus on the future. The rules as applied in AD and at monza created controversy in both cases. The issue here is the FIA has not applied an acceptable rule to deal with yellow flags, especially a yellow in the last 10 laps of a race! Racing behind a safety car for 6 laps is not what I want to see, and I am not alone on this. It's as ridiculous as driving 2 laps at spa last year, behind a safety car. That is a parade, not a race. If you ok with it, fair enough, but I would like to see this rule changed.
Masi applied the rules intelligently, he gave importance to the battle and the race. The lapped cars in between Max and Lewis were the only relevant factor. Once they were gone, it was a straight fight. He had to make a call as there was only one lap remaining. So i think he did a smart thing rather than just apply the rules like a robot. Discretion was exercised. We need more of this not less. I would feel the same even if it worked out in Lewis’ favour. Anyway what was the harm really? Max and Lewis retained their positions, and Max still needed to overtake a very quick Merc on a Merc track. Why bother flexing 7 championships when you can’t even hold off a 24year old non champ for one lap. Just one single lap.
For me they should have a race that's what it's called racing hey it makes it more exciting
Imagine this happened mid season. And then Silverstone was the last race. He would be the rightful champion. Max.ax deserved the championship What masi did was wrong. Biit I'm OK with max being champion
This is exactly what all of you demanded. You’ve been crying about it for ten months. The guy “responsible” was fired and the entire concept of race direction was changed to work exactly as everyone unhappy about Abu Dhabi said it should be. Now you’re mad because you got exactly what you asked for, but it benefited the wrong guy. If Lewis and George were running 1-2 you’d all be talking about how this is how it’s supposed to work, but because that isn’t how it played out, here you all are, behaving as usual after a race weekend. Truly embarrassing.
I didn't hear that any of them after a single race this year, where the rules were respected and leaving the track was punished, condemned the shameful victory of Lewis in last year's Bahrain GP. Was that victory a fair result? No it's not.
Or Lewis cutting the track in AD on lap 1 and not having to give the position back. Even Brundle stated Lewis has to give the place back.
There were still a lot of situations where Lewis was favored, but I deliberately focused only on that first race, where the judges were directly involved in the final result with their decisions, which were against the rules. Everyone only talks about that last race, but I want to talk about the first one as well, where we can say that it was exactly the same thing, that the judges decided something that was against the rules. For me there is no difference.
No, what happened in Abu Dhabi should have happened at monza!
So true! But in the UK and at Sky they still cry. But all the fans just want to race! It is motorsport! All the Red Bull fans just wanted Max to race for it on Sunday the last laps. Only Mercedes seems to like this boring SC finishes. Maybe it is not such a bad idea to red flag the race when SC in the last 10 laps to secure a restart. But then only tire change allowed for example.
I agree somewhat. I'd go as far as no changes are allowed to the cars since its under a red flag - they don't compete under a red flag do they? (Rhetorical question). I'd also call for a safety car restart. A standing start would probably create another yellow, or red, flag condition with a turn 1 incident.
That is also my idea. Red flag the race to call all cars in the box and stop the lap count but exempt from tire change no modifications and reparations to the car allowed. That is different from a normal red flag. I agree it is better not to have a standing start for the risk of new crashes.
Well the truth is he is right "There will be people watching saying ‘is that what should have happened in Abu Dhabi?'” Kravitz responds: "Yes, it was." In 2021 Every F1 fan knows that as well.
Mercedes was the goof-up by staying out with old tyres under SC. Connelly was the goof-up by trying to let the lapped cars in between. Masi was the single one to try to fnish that extreme season racing. And that by applying the rules as should. Point to that line.
Max was best driver in 2021. He deserved to win WDC 2021.
To be fair, he only talks about Abu Dhabi. And I did watch the Sky F1 team say multiple times that Max is a deserved champion.
Sure Liverpool should have won 4 trophies last season they were the best. But they didn't. Nothing to do with deserving to win. You have to actually win it. And considering both Hamilton and Verstappen were on equal points going into the last race. I believe both deserved to win. After all both were on equal points so both performances were the same. And if we take Spa race out of contention, after all it was wet and pole sitter just followed the safety car around and got a win after a lap. That's not what you would call deserved to win, is it? It's all about winning races and Hamilton had it in the bag until human error took it away. A decent sports person would actually not have taken the trophy after knowing Hamilton was cheated. Then again they say be a sportsman and games man's ship etc. We all know that that's fake. Sports is full of cheats.
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