Formula one

[RedHand88]

Verstappen wins the championship on the last lap of the season by overtaking Hamilton.

[From the Bunker]

Hamilton completely punked there today!

Fair dues, he took it gracefully. I'd say he's thanking god that he could wear a mask for the victory presentation.

[pbat]

Far from an expert but did Mercedes not make an awful blunder leaving Hamilton on the same tyres for 40+ laps

[David McKeown]

Far from a Hamilton fan but that ending was a disgrace. Championship decided in the board room. Rules bent or ignore at the whim of the director. Verstappen not even acknowledging Hamilton post race says a lot about him too. It may be entertaining but it's not sport.

[quit yo jibbajabba]

Exciting stuff but thank fcuk i dont watch that shizzle

[An Watcher]

Don't watch it myself but delighted with that finish and result.  Apparently there was a strange decision at the start that benefited Hamilton and the decision at the end benefited verstappen

[Tony Baloney]

How many years of the board before there was an F1 thread?! Great finish and delighted with the result. Hamilton is an absolute puke. Pit strategy won it for Red Bull.

[TwoUpTwoDown]

How many years of the board before there was an F1 thread?! Great finish and delighted with the result. Hamilton is an absolute puke. Pit strategy won it for Red Bull.

Hamilton gets serious negative press and it makes no sense. Very similar to the cub that came on the scene in 07 and he was loved. The domination of Mercedes has hurt him because people hate seeing a serial winner. That today was a disgrace. The consistency is gone and that will rightly be settled off the track. Latifi won't be looking to wee Big Toto any time soon...

[David McKeown]

I don't think you can equate the decision at the start of the race with that at the end. The decision at the start could have gone either way and was a matter for interpretation for the stewards. The one at the end was a breach of a clearly written rule. The breach didn't create fairness it deliberately created spectacle and publicity.

The race director had three options once that safety car was deployed.  Finish the race under the car in which case the driver who had lead throughout wins. Two allow all (and the key word is all) lapped cars through which given there were I think 8/9 lapped cars at that stage would have almost certainly meant the end of the race under the safety car by the time the correct racing positions were sorted. Or three let no cars through. There would still have been one lap of racing left and like Hamilton Verstappen would have had to get round 5 drivers he was coming up to lap. He may have still won we will never know.

The race director though chose to ignore the rule that all teams had agreed to and invented option 4. He shifted the goal posts after Horner had whinged at him and he disregarded whatever integrity was left in the sport. The idea that Red Bulls strategy won that race is laughable. The race director decided that race. There was no fairness in his decision.
 

[David McKeown]

I see Mercedes have now protested the result and at least one other driver has agreed.

[Orior]

Great championship. I am sure Hamilton would not want to win by appeal and I hope he wins it back next year

[quit yo jibbajabba]

I don't think you can equate the decision at the start of the race with that at the end. The decision at the start could have gone either way and was a matter for interpretation for the stewards. The one at the end was a breach of a clearly written rule. The breach didn't create fairness it deliberately created spectacle and publicity.

The race director had three options once that safety car was deployed.  Finish the race under the car in which case the driver who had lead throughout wins. Two allow all (and the key word is all) lapped cars through which given there were I think 8/9 lapped cars at that stage would have almost certainly meant the end of the race under the safety car by the time the correct racing positions were sorted. Or three let no cars through. There would still have been one lap of racing left and like Hamilton Verstappen would have had to get round 5 drivers he was coming up to lap. He may have still won we will never know.

The race director though chose to ignore the rule that all teams had agreed to and invented option 4. He shifted the goal posts after Horner had whinged at him and he disregarded whatever integrity was left in the sport. The idea that Red Bulls strategy won that race is laughable. The race director decided that race. There was no fairness in his decision.

Thanks to David for making sense of it to me. Although it would be a bad way to win on appeal you can see why they have done so. 

[HiMucker]

How many years of the board before there was an F1 thread?! Great finish and delighted with the result. Hamilton is an absolute puke. Pit strategy won it for Red Bull.

Have to say I really like Hamilton. Incredible mentality, that you just don't see in someone that age. His reaction after the race is just sheer class. Hard to imagine anyone else taking like that. There was drivers not even effected who were absolutely furious about it.

[gallsman]

Far from a Hamilton fan but that ending was a disgrace. Championship decided in the board room. Rules bent or ignore at the whim of the director. Verstappen not even acknowledging Hamilton post race says a lot about him too. It may be entertaining but it's not sport.

Of course be acknowledged him. Stop talking shite.

[David McKeown]

Here's the rule in question.

If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message "LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE" has been sent to all teams Competitors via the official messaging system, any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.
"This will only apply to cars that were lapped at the time they crossed the Line at the end of the lap during which they crossed the first Safety Car line for the second time after the safety car was deployed. Having overtaken the cars on the lead lap and the safety car these cars should then proceed around the track at an appropriate speed, without overtaking, and make every effort to take up position at the back of the line of cars behind the safety car.
"Whilst they are overtaking, and in order to ensure this may be carried out safely, the cars on the lead lap must always stay on the racing line unless deviating from it is unavoidable. Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap."

Very hard for the FIA to defend that one I would have thought.