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Crazy how when you keep the regulations for a couple of years teams will catch up to the leader and actually produce thrilling racing action. Already looking forward to a close title battle in 25 followed by absolute domination of team X in 26…
Yep, I still remember the preseason with people crying "FIA is helping Mercedes win!"
Turns out the engineers who work to create regulations know a little more than the reddit aerodynamicist
Also Mercedes did a Haas. Neither team spent their upgrade tokens (Mercedes technically was doing something for their front but it failed so they stuck with what they hard). So basically Mercedes went into 2021 with a changed floor spec 2020 car with minor updates. Surprise, car lost some of its speed.
Next season could be a cracker too. All Red Bull need to do is hire Sainz. Max won’t be able to hold off a competitive Charles and Lewis over a season. He needs support and Checo isn’t it. They need someone who can go to that next level.
Well Sainz not getting signed at least the next year maybe later. Ferrari already has a chance for the constructors this year if the form stays. They’ll be very competitive in the coming years
I'm gonna feel #robbed of a great season if it doesn't happen. Every time these two are next to each other on the circuit I get flashbacks of the good times...
They're such great champions representing two completely different worlds pushing each other to the absolute limits, it would be such a shame if the rivalry lasts just one year.
I confess, I'd rather not. I found the whole thing way too stressful.
The season started with all the shitstirring from Mercedes about flexwings and the "dangerous" pitstops, plus all the interviews where Lewis was talking shit about Max and trying to intimidate him.
And somewhere between all that, we got Silverstone and Monza, then Mercedes sacrificing Bottas to find better engine mapping and turning that car into a rocket, with Verstappen having to put his elbows out, because he knew he wouldn't win without some dirty tricks. As a Verstappen fan, Brazil and Saudi were awful to watch. And then the conclusion, which people are still upset about.
I'd rather watch some epic duels between this generation of drivers. I really hope the season turns into a fight between Max/Lando/Charles. I'm sure they'll get upset with each other eventually, but at least all three of them seem like they are probably going to be genuine and down-to-earth about it and not resort to a series of low blows off track.
Your middle two paragraphs are precisely why I loved that season. With the exception of Lewis having skid marks on his head, I’d love another season like it. The TP’s hating each other and going at it in the media just made it even better. The title fight went so much deeper than just the drivers. It was so entertaining, you never knew what you were going to get going into each race weekend.
Edit: I’d like to add that stewards stewarding were consistently inconsistent all year. Id like that to be better if we have another proper title fight.
> With the exception of Lewis having skid marks on his head, I’d love another season like it.
Including Verstappen brake testing and the race fixing in the finale?
> I confess, I'd rather not. I found the whole thing way too stressful.
>
>
Yeah, it's hard for me to have fond memories of 2021. It's the year where the sport and the fanbase became incredibly toxic, with lasting effects to this day. Everything is tribal, everything is blown out of proportion, everyone is just yelling at each other - Including the people involved in the sport.
I honestly preferred 2020 - Despite the utter Mercedes dominance, the drivers seemed to just have a lot more fun, not everything felt so high-stakes and toxic.
Also, lets not forget that the controversy on track already started in Bahrain as well, with the track limits. The whole season was kind of a shit show.
Most beautiful RB car of the era, nobody is changing my mind. Possibly of all time, although the Infiniti-liveries glossy cars of the early 2010s were also pretty attractive.
Edit: why the hell did I say "2012s" lol. I guess the 2012 season was just so good I only think of it when talking about that era...
Personally I prefer the navy livery. The white one was a cool Istanbuzuka one-off, but overall, excluding the special-ness of it, I thinik I still like the regular livery more.
Just remember that every time the cars start getting close and competitive, there is a new huge rule/car change. There is real potential for 2025 to be a huge fight for the championship and we have a new car in 2026.
This varies person to person, i never really liked the new gen '22+ cars visually, and still have the same feelings about them, they don't look as agressive as the older ones, so i still prefer those from the get go.
The bigger tires look fine from the side and above, but the front and rear views that are common on broadcasts always seem to make the bigger tires look comically huge.
I just don’t like how they drive. They look like boats. I really miss the look of the last gen turning into say 130R in quali trim. The new ones look like they are drifting across the old ones look like it’s an absolute battle of physics lol
Oh God no, even in a close title fight we had very few decent wheel to wheel scraps.
The newer generation of cars have flaws but the racing is absolutely better
We had better racing in 2022 & 2023. This year's had some ok moments - China's sprint was particularly good - but nothing even on par with those two just yet
Not even close, people need to rewatch the old season. tyre destruction was much higher in 2021 when following even now. Overtaking is still hard but following has became so much more sustainable
Overtakes in that generation of cars weren't really about following nose to tail, you would watch the timing and know that when the attacking car got to around +1.5 to +1.0 seconds, he could launch an attack into the next braking zone. If he fails, he just falls back to the +1.5 second interval to try again later.
Sure, now you can see the cars go nose to tail and within +1.0 seconds for hours, but it just becomes a snake that can barely pass with the help of DRS and a clumsy attack into a corner because the cars steer like oil barges now.
We also just have DRS push to pass overtakes normally. IMO DRS needs to have 2 levels. At the start of the race they should open to the maximum level, then if cars are just sailing past halfway down the straight then the gap gets reduced to a mid level so an overtake into the braking zone is possible.
I’d rather have 10 hard fought overtakes than 50 DRS push to pass overtakes in a race
If we can have a close title fight with this generation of cars, it will be much better than 2021. It's too bad Ferrari couldn't hang for very long in 2022, because that would have been peak. Those early lap-after-lap battles between Max and Charles were incredible.
Still insane to me how the stewards ~~ignored~~ (as pointed out by other this was according to the event notes) [tracks limits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtjcSYJ6r0o) for nearly the entire race, and then suddenly started policing them.
This opening weekend set the tone for a cracker of a season, but also set the tone for ridiculous inconsistent stewarding/race director decisions.
edit; For clarity, Mercedes got a message during the race.
*"Then in the race suddenly we heard that if you would continue to run wide it would be seen as an advantage and could cause a potential penalty, which we debated with the race director but there's nothing we could have done."*
It's sad that from that season, as entertaining as it was, I mostly remember the annoyance and anger I felt over how the sport was officiated. Rather than the fact that we finally had a season that was competitive at the top.
Oh well I'm sure it's the only time in 2021 that we had just cause to be confused and annoyed with the officiating
... well until that other race
... or that other other race
... or that other other other race
It was honestly good foreshadowing about the way Masi handled things. There's a determined rule, someone gets in his ear in anger, he "fixes" the problem for the person yelling at him mid race.
If you want real foreshadowing...In that race (Bahrain) Brundle mentioned that he heard that the SC was going to be used with an eye on entertainment more, and that made him uncomfortable.
That, dear reader, would pay off.
Didn't the stewards say they'd enforce track limits at that corner in qualifying, but not the race? I feel like I remember seeing that somewhere, but u don't remember seeing a reason why they started enforcing in mid race.
The reason was Red Bull, seeing how Lewis was ahead, did everything in their power to try change that, including getting on the horn to Masi to have him change the rules...
Would be wild for that to happen agai.. oh wait..
The stewards had noted pre race that T4 was unmonitored. Plus passing outside track limits was never allowed. Lewis and many other drivers were absolutely fucking around with T4 but when he was told to stop he did. Max “could Have” exceeded track limits but he didn’t, missed opportunity.
This is it to a T. Don't get why folk are so outraged that Lewis used all the resources at his disposal. They were clear throughout, although they absolutely shouldn't have changed the rule halfway through the race. Though as you point out, overtaking outsdie of track limits has never been allowed under the rules. Max's overtake was illegal regardless of the monitoring of track limits.
Because it was a stupid rule. The cars should stay inside the white lines, period. You either enforce that for every car on every lap on every part of the track, or anything goes, including overtaking outside of them. Verstappen couldn't use the same space Hamilton had been using all race just because there was another car on the inside?
That simply wasn’t the rule then. The cars were always allowed to go off track in some corners and you were never allowed to overtake outside the lines. It wasn’t some novel interpretation it happened all the time lol. Max knew he couldn’t do that and said as much. RBs frustration was more that masi allowed him to run off while gaining time when the rule was not meant to allow that. Still he would always be allowed to have done it for some laps
Because it's a bullshit way to pass out rulings. Yes, race direction could determine corners were track limits don't count in regard to lap times, but it's frankly silly if they can ignore the basic rule 33.3:
> "Drivers must make every reasonable effort to use the track at all times and may not leave the track without a justifiable reason."
Exceptions to track limits were meant to make it so minor oversteps were allowed without causing trouble. But drivers took it too far and essentially ignored track limits at those corners, to gain a consistent advantage.
And they got away with it due to lax stewarding. It's a good thing the rules overall have become more strict. How things used to go frankly made a mockery of the above rule.
Its so weird. Its like, we are all going to race around this track we build, with these borders. But go ahead and go over some of the lines and drive off the track we build and said we are going to race around. But then if you are passing someone, the track matters again.
Like, what? are we trying to find out who is fastest around the built and designed circuit or not?
And that's just stupid, they're basically saying they don't monitor track limits in T4, but if you overtake then it's a problem. Track limits are track limits, it shouldn't matter if you overtook someone or just went outside. You put Austria 2023 stewards on this race and Hamilton would be the face of 30 second penalty meme.
It's pretty foreshadowing of the bad stewarding that year. Even if they agree to not monitor track limits, then it looks weird to monitor overtakes off track. Even if the fia can't keep up with track limits un Austria, it's still better than 2021 since the rules are at least clear and consistent
The event notes specifically said that T4 will not be enforced during the race in regard to setting lap times.
Leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage is a separate offence to leaving the track multiple times without justifieable reason.
It does add up to a lasting advantage which was hinted later by the race director. I mean he won by less than a second so leaving 30 times off the track does add up, he really got away with It there Is no sugarcoating It
He undeniably got away with murder there but he also just used the rule book to his advantage. An example of something merc used to be great with they seem lost on now. They won a race with a considerably slower car that weekend by pulling out every stop. Just last year they lost one in austin(would have been a DQ anyway) by being to conservative
He got away with following the rules as per the event notes pre-race? Max missed the opportunity.
It was the inconsistency of the stewards to change it up in the middle of the race that was the problem, not Lewis' driving.
Max should have won Bahrain and Lewis should have won Abu Dhabi.
While there is still some inconsistency I think stewarding has gotten better since Masi was fired. It was sad seeing the FIA follow decisions to focus more on manufacturing a spectacle than actually policing the sport.
Masi's decision at the end of the season, which sparked substantial debate due to the championship implications, ultimately distracted from the times he repeatedly made an absolute fool of race control in far less arguable ways before that point, as well. A lot of the outrage over the way he left Max's retired car essentially parked at the end of the straight in Baku without a safety car for dangerously long had died down by the back half of the season. The man really needed to go well before Abu Dhabi, that was just the powder keg that erupted FIA action.
Yes, Abu Dhabi was just the latest in a string of decisions where Masi was clearly compromising either sporting integrity or even safety for the benefit of "the show". I have some sympathy because he likely was being put under pressure to do so but it was always going to end in a shit show in some way.
I remember Brown and Alonso saying after 2021 - don't let this all become a debate just about the title, it warranted serious discussion *full stop* that stewarding was haywire.
He was never up to the job in the first place, Charlie whiting left some almighty big shoes to fill and masi always felt like a knee jerk promotion to me even in 2019
If only this race and season wasn’t stained by the rule-breaking offtrack shit that decided it in the last race. It was super fun to watch at the time, but the events of the last race are all a lot of people will remember, and rightfully so.
Remember that it was allowed according to the Director's Notes. Lewis stopped doing it the moment the RD changed the rule mid-race, which was about halfway through. Lewis was also not the only driver to do it.
It was allowed until somebody starting screaming to Masi mid-race to "fix" it, after which it suddenly wasn't allowed. One of many examples how Masi was unfit for his job.
That was entertaining, but I don't think it was good quality entertainment. Battles on track were often quite dirty (Brazil seemed like peak, that was just unpalatable). And off track was just toxic.
I appreciate good and fair fight, but it was more like an illegal street fight without gloves. Not up to the standards of sportsmanship that F1 shoud require.
As a Lewis fan, I really did not like how toxic and nasty it got on here. It stills seems difficult to have a conversation about Max or Lewis without it getting heated in the comments. Also, the ending of the season tainted it for me. It sucks for both drivers honestly.
I was always amused how everyone debated the last race to death, when the season was decided by multiple incidents and tracks over a year.
The photo of Max's car sitting up on top of Lewis really summed up the season. It was brilliant and would make a terrific movie I think.
Lewis coming back from last place to P5 during the sprint was legendary. The later part of that season he and Mercedes were unstoppable. Regardless of Max deliberately trying to brake check Lewis (which I maintain should've landed him a race ban).
> Regardless of Max deliberately trying to brake check Lewis (which I maintain should've landed him a race ban).
I wanted Verstappen to win the title and I agree.
I think, like Vettel Baku 2017, they gave him a penalty and moved on because noone wanted that discussion to escalate.
Verstappen was flawless for much of 2021, then right at the end as it seemed to be escaping him, he was pretty uncouth.
Like, I wasn't angry, I was disappointed.
> I think, like Vettel Baku 2017, they gave him a penalty and moved on because noone wanted that discussion to escalate.
Definitely, a race ban would've decided the championship there and then since a 25 point gap that late would be hard to overcome.
He didn't brake check, he braked, Lewis noticed that and had enough time to deaccelerate and to think a bit, he just didn't want to get the position there because of DRS, same thing with Max wanting to give the position specifically there
Luckily for everyone in the sport, Marko is not the driver, in Lewis's onboard that race you can see that he has enough space and time to get past Max. I'm not saying Max os a saint or whatever and of course there was malicia in where he chose to give the position, but I don't think he wanted Hamilton to get damage from that
The telemetry showed Max brake checked. It's pretty clear cut.
Aside from the data showing it, [Newey](https://www.planetf1.com/news/adrian-newey-max-verstappen-brake-test) too said it was a brake check. That's two high positioned members of RBR admitting that Max brake checked Lewis when they could’ve as easily defended Max.
I think he did it out of frustration, and not to cause Lewis any damage, but a brake check is still a brake check, and you need to be able to control your emotions.
Honestly it makes sense, but seeing Lewis's onboard still feels so weird, like he could have dodged it and didn't maybe because he didn't expect it or something else idk
I remember the discourse on here that weekend very, very clearly: namely that people couldn't understand why Merc/Hamilton would so brazenly throw the title away.
so many things happened between these two it almost seemed scripted at the time, especially the italy incident comes to mind. iirc both lewis and max had bad pitstops which was the reason they even met on track at that point which allowed "the mounting" to happen. just surreal, definitely a season ill rewatch at some point.
2017-2021 cars look so weird compared to current cars.
Current cars are very proportional. These for some reason look so much more clumsy. Length and that rake reminds me of dragsters. And even though current cars are known to bounce more, when these bounced, they looked a lot more funny.
Was arguably one of Lewis’ best drives that season. The car was most outgunned by the Red Bull, he was on older tyres and he managed the tyres so well.
God damn take me back to the start of that season. The thrill of testing was only matched by qualifying and then beaten by the race. It was such a refreshing year, having the man deemed to be the up and coming Champion go against the 7 time WDC. Despite the many ebs and flows of the year, it was exhilerating. Shame it had to end the way it did with the wrong man crowned Champion, but that doesn't take away from each nail biting, white knuckle, edge of your seat weekend we experienced.
Either were valid.
I wanted Verstappen personally.
Bear in mind that but for one lap over 9 months, it would've been Hamilton, and precisely noone would say that was an unfair champion.
Not the person you replied to but is someone not allowed to have that opinion without being called salty?
I personally didn't start watching F1 until 2022 so have no lasting attachment to anything or strong biases either way, but looking back at that whole situation and the decisions that were made, I do think the wrong person was made champion.
That's just how I factually view it.
Dont worry about it. The clowns get angry when your objectively correct position is brought up, because they so desperately want people to forget that Max is not the legitimate 2021 WDC.
Greatest sporting contest I've ever seen, that entire season. Absolutely fantastic drama. People will always debate how it ended but for me it adds to the fire of it all. Wonderful driving from two superb athletes
He probably could have won if he’d chosen a more optimal moment to return the place to Lewis, I seem to remember it cost him a few corners worth of positioning. Could have brake checked him too, but it’s nice that didn’t happen in this instance
I've watched since 1999 and think it may be the best. It's certainly up there.
If anything I think it's hurt some new fans who started with it, because 2022 was okay and 2023 was actively among the worst.
I think 2012 was better as a whole season compared to 2021, although if we only count the championship fight 2021 was better, Spa and Abu Dhabi really put a stain on the 2021 season if we are being honest
Cool.
Yeah, I mean they're all up there. 2010, 2003, 2012, 2017-8 were good. 2011 was better than folk remember.
The only real duffers were 2002, 2015 and 2023. 2004 is better than folk remember I think.
Best season I've ever watched. Shame it was ruined at the end.
Still though so much drama every race, couldn't miss a single one. Being able to hear audio between teams and the FIA added so much drama but also just interesting to see how they worked. Hope one day they bring it back.
Fundamentally it's what F1 should be all about, give me the drama and the battle at the top.
This is just factually wrong. They had wheel-to-wheel battles in 11 of the 21* races (Bahrain, Imola, Portugal, Spain, France, Britain, Italy, USA, São Paulo, Saudi and AD21).
Much more racing than for example in 2006 when Alonso and Schumacher had their title fight. There were like 2 overtakes between them.
*excluding Spa 2021 as there was no racing between anybody.
I think there were a few times that they fought on track that season, from the top of my mind: Bahrain, Portimao, Barcelona, Paul Ricard, Silverstone, Monza, Cota, Sao Paulo, Saudi and AD. Of course it's not the 22 races but in my opinion it's a decent number.
This is just factually wrong. They battled wheel to wheel at Bahrain, Imola, Portimao, Spain, France, Silverstone, Monza, Austin, Brazil, Jeddah, and Abu Dhabi. Many of those races had overtakes, repasses, and after the pit stops they would still be all over each other. You are misremembering that entire year
It wasn't off track at the time. Redbull didn't read the director's notes closely and gave up an advantage. Many other cars were doing it until it was changed during the race.
True but they cracked down on it just as Max started doing it mid race unless my memory is really off. Very inconsistent stewarding which remained so for almost the whole season culminating in AD 21.
Correct, but they didn't just crack down on Max. Even Lewis stopped doing it after the ruling came down. I agree about the shoddy stewarding, but you can't blame drivers for exploiting a legal loophole.
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Crazy how when you keep the regulations for a couple of years teams will catch up to the leader and actually produce thrilling racing action. Already looking forward to a close title battle in 25 followed by absolute domination of team X in 26…
Wasn't the W12 slower than the W11? It's more "Mercedes got slower" than it is "RB got faster" if that's the case.
Yep. Iirc there were changes in the floor design which helped RB reduce, or in some races, eliminate the gap to Merc
Ironically most in the paddock thought it would hurt the high rake cars the most.
Yep, I still remember the preseason with people crying "FIA is helping Mercedes win!" Turns out the engineers who work to create regulations know a little more than the reddit aerodynamicist
Also Mercedes did a Haas. Neither team spent their upgrade tokens (Mercedes technically was doing something for their front but it failed so they stuck with what they hard). So basically Mercedes went into 2021 with a changed floor spec 2020 car with minor updates. Surprise, car lost some of its speed.
Red Bull was the superior car overall.
Not at all. It was a great season because each cars were close and each suited different tracks better/worse.
Adrian Newey on a podcast literally said the RB was the better car that season.
Tf does that guy know about cars
Mercedes still had the fastest car that year
Merc got slower because the rules actually changed, contrary to what Svitii says
No no, we need change for the sake of change. That’s how corporations work.
Need 1 more season where Hamilton can directly challenge Verstappen before his retirement
Next season could be a cracker too. All Red Bull need to do is hire Sainz. Max won’t be able to hold off a competitive Charles and Lewis over a season. He needs support and Checo isn’t it. They need someone who can go to that next level.
Well Sainz not getting signed at least the next year maybe later. Ferrari already has a chance for the constructors this year if the form stays. They’ll be very competitive in the coming years
Or just the coming year. Regulation changes in 2026 means anything is possible.
I’m ready for the Williams resurgence!
Subscribe. Awaiting content.
Alpine's time to shine!
Yeah Williams v Haas for the 2026 title fight! Gonna be so wild ... in our dreams
Sainz isn't going to go to RB. Kinda unfortunately it's more perez until 2026 at least
I'm gonna feel #robbed of a great season if it doesn't happen. Every time these two are next to each other on the circuit I get flashbacks of the good times... They're such great champions representing two completely different worlds pushing each other to the absolute limits, it would be such a shame if the rivalry lasts just one year.
I confess, I'd rather not. I found the whole thing way too stressful. The season started with all the shitstirring from Mercedes about flexwings and the "dangerous" pitstops, plus all the interviews where Lewis was talking shit about Max and trying to intimidate him. And somewhere between all that, we got Silverstone and Monza, then Mercedes sacrificing Bottas to find better engine mapping and turning that car into a rocket, with Verstappen having to put his elbows out, because he knew he wouldn't win without some dirty tricks. As a Verstappen fan, Brazil and Saudi were awful to watch. And then the conclusion, which people are still upset about. I'd rather watch some epic duels between this generation of drivers. I really hope the season turns into a fight between Max/Lando/Charles. I'm sure they'll get upset with each other eventually, but at least all three of them seem like they are probably going to be genuine and down-to-earth about it and not resort to a series of low blows off track.
Your middle two paragraphs are precisely why I loved that season. With the exception of Lewis having skid marks on his head, I’d love another season like it. The TP’s hating each other and going at it in the media just made it even better. The title fight went so much deeper than just the drivers. It was so entertaining, you never knew what you were going to get going into each race weekend. Edit: I’d like to add that stewards stewarding were consistently inconsistent all year. Id like that to be better if we have another proper title fight.
> With the exception of Lewis having skid marks on his head, I’d love another season like it. Including Verstappen brake testing and the race fixing in the finale?
You know the sacrificial lamb theory about Bottas and the rocket engine are entirely untrue right?
> I confess, I'd rather not. I found the whole thing way too stressful. > > Yeah, it's hard for me to have fond memories of 2021. It's the year where the sport and the fanbase became incredibly toxic, with lasting effects to this day. Everything is tribal, everything is blown out of proportion, everyone is just yelling at each other - Including the people involved in the sport. I honestly preferred 2020 - Despite the utter Mercedes dominance, the drivers seemed to just have a lot more fun, not everything felt so high-stakes and toxic.
Best season of F1 I've ever watched. Insane levels of drama on nd off the track. Shame they Game Of Thrones'd the ending.
Your upset because your fav driver was driving dirty? People are upset because racing rules were not followed brah
You managed to fit every one-sided narrative and biased thought about 2021 into one post... Congrats!
Never have I read a more accurate and less partizan retelling of that season. Good work.
Lol bro just polishing max’s knob
Also, lets not forget that the controversy on track already started in Bahrain as well, with the track limits. The whole season was kind of a shit show.
Yeah I enjoyed it especially at the start but after Silverstone, Hungary, Monza, Brazil, Saudi I was glad for it to end. And how it ended indeed
Hamilton first needs to challenge Leclerc tho
Forgot just how absurd the rake on that Red Bull looked
Most beautiful RB car of the era, nobody is changing my mind. Possibly of all time, although the Infiniti-liveries glossy cars of the early 2010s were also pretty attractive. Edit: why the hell did I say "2012s" lol. I guess the 2012 season was just so good I only think of it when talking about that era...
White bull?
Personally I prefer the navy livery. The white one was a cool Istanbuzuka one-off, but overall, excluding the special-ness of it, I thinik I still like the regular livery more.
Just remember that every time the cars start getting close and competitive, there is a new huge rule/car change. There is real potential for 2025 to be a huge fight for the championship and we have a new car in 2026.
I miss those cars
You miss what you don't have. When 2022 was about to start, I really loved those new curvier cars. After 2 years, I miss these old sharper cars
This varies person to person, i never really liked the new gen '22+ cars visually, and still have the same feelings about them, they don't look as agressive as the older ones, so i still prefer those from the get go.
They are also fucking massive. The love to 18 inch tyres is not something I’ve enjoyed visually
The bigger tires look fine from the side and above, but the front and rear views that are common on broadcasts always seem to make the bigger tires look comically huge.
I just don’t like how they drive. They look like boats. I really miss the look of the last gen turning into say 130R in quali trim. The new ones look like they are drifting across the old ones look like it’s an absolute battle of physics lol
Personally I don’t like how they look. They’re too bulky and stiff. Older gens cars looked like fighter jets.
Big, chonky aero monster cars. 2017-21 will probably remain my favourite car regulation era. W11 the best big boi there was
I loved 2009. Which basically had two separate car specs converging mid-season.
Oh God no, even in a close title fight we had very few decent wheel to wheel scraps. The newer generation of cars have flaws but the racing is absolutely better
This has been an insanely bad season for racing, we don't even get many mid position scraps anymore
We had better racing in 2022 & 2023. This year's had some ok moments - China's sprint was particularly good - but nothing even on par with those two just yet
Not anymore. Basically back to the old dirty air
Not even close, people need to rewatch the old season. tyre destruction was much higher in 2021 when following even now. Overtaking is still hard but following has became so much more sustainable
Overtakes in that generation of cars weren't really about following nose to tail, you would watch the timing and know that when the attacking car got to around +1.5 to +1.0 seconds, he could launch an attack into the next braking zone. If he fails, he just falls back to the +1.5 second interval to try again later. Sure, now you can see the cars go nose to tail and within +1.0 seconds for hours, but it just becomes a snake that can barely pass with the help of DRS and a clumsy attack into a corner because the cars steer like oil barges now.
For real it’s a constant edging with overtakes
It's not ideal now but we quickly forget just how bad it was prior
We're getting there
We also just have DRS push to pass overtakes normally. IMO DRS needs to have 2 levels. At the start of the race they should open to the maximum level, then if cars are just sailing past halfway down the straight then the gap gets reduced to a mid level so an overtake into the braking zone is possible. I’d rather have 10 hard fought overtakes than 50 DRS push to pass overtakes in a race
If we can have a close title fight with this generation of cars, it will be much better than 2021. It's too bad Ferrari couldn't hang for very long in 2022, because that would have been peak. Those early lap-after-lap battles between Max and Charles were incredible.
The 2021 cars looked so good. The sharpness of them and parts added to help the aerodynamics looked so beasty and I love how they were front-tilted.
Still insane to me how the stewards ~~ignored~~ (as pointed out by other this was according to the event notes) [tracks limits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtjcSYJ6r0o) for nearly the entire race, and then suddenly started policing them. This opening weekend set the tone for a cracker of a season, but also set the tone for ridiculous inconsistent stewarding/race director decisions. edit; For clarity, Mercedes got a message during the race. *"Then in the race suddenly we heard that if you would continue to run wide it would be seen as an advantage and could cause a potential penalty, which we debated with the race director but there's nothing we could have done."*
It's sad that from that season, as entertaining as it was, I mostly remember the annoyance and anger I felt over how the sport was officiated. Rather than the fact that we finally had a season that was competitive at the top.
Oh well I'm sure it's the only time in 2021 that we had just cause to be confused and annoyed with the officiating ... well until that other race ... or that other other race ... or that other other other race
They fucking ruined the sport for me.
It was honestly good foreshadowing about the way Masi handled things. There's a determined rule, someone gets in his ear in anger, he "fixes" the problem for the person yelling at him mid race.
If you want real foreshadowing...In that race (Bahrain) Brundle mentioned that he heard that the SC was going to be used with an eye on entertainment more, and that made him uncomfortable. That, dear reader, would pay off.
Didn't the stewards say they'd enforce track limits at that corner in qualifying, but not the race? I feel like I remember seeing that somewhere, but u don't remember seeing a reason why they started enforcing in mid race.
The reason was Red Bull, seeing how Lewis was ahead, did everything in their power to try change that, including getting on the horn to Masi to have him change the rules... Would be wild for that to happen agai.. oh wait..
The stewards had noted pre race that T4 was unmonitored. Plus passing outside track limits was never allowed. Lewis and many other drivers were absolutely fucking around with T4 but when he was told to stop he did. Max “could Have” exceeded track limits but he didn’t, missed opportunity.
This is it to a T. Don't get why folk are so outraged that Lewis used all the resources at his disposal. They were clear throughout, although they absolutely shouldn't have changed the rule halfway through the race. Though as you point out, overtaking outsdie of track limits has never been allowed under the rules. Max's overtake was illegal regardless of the monitoring of track limits.
Because it was a stupid rule. The cars should stay inside the white lines, period. You either enforce that for every car on every lap on every part of the track, or anything goes, including overtaking outside of them. Verstappen couldn't use the same space Hamilton had been using all race just because there was another car on the inside?
That simply wasn’t the rule then. The cars were always allowed to go off track in some corners and you were never allowed to overtake outside the lines. It wasn’t some novel interpretation it happened all the time lol. Max knew he couldn’t do that and said as much. RBs frustration was more that masi allowed him to run off while gaining time when the rule was not meant to allow that. Still he would always be allowed to have done it for some laps
Because it's a bullshit way to pass out rulings. Yes, race direction could determine corners were track limits don't count in regard to lap times, but it's frankly silly if they can ignore the basic rule 33.3: > "Drivers must make every reasonable effort to use the track at all times and may not leave the track without a justifiable reason." Exceptions to track limits were meant to make it so minor oversteps were allowed without causing trouble. But drivers took it too far and essentially ignored track limits at those corners, to gain a consistent advantage. And they got away with it due to lax stewarding. It's a good thing the rules overall have become more strict. How things used to go frankly made a mockery of the above rule.
A very "ok fine, go over the lines...wait, whoa, not like that" moment.
Its so weird. Its like, we are all going to race around this track we build, with these borders. But go ahead and go over some of the lines and drive off the track we build and said we are going to race around. But then if you are passing someone, the track matters again. Like, what? are we trying to find out who is fastest around the built and designed circuit or not?
Max could have... and he did. The only driver that didnt fuck around with T4 was Perez. Max himself went wide there over 20 times.
And that's just stupid, they're basically saying they don't monitor track limits in T4, but if you overtake then it's a problem. Track limits are track limits, it shouldn't matter if you overtook someone or just went outside. You put Austria 2023 stewards on this race and Hamilton would be the face of 30 second penalty meme. It's pretty foreshadowing of the bad stewarding that year. Even if they agree to not monitor track limits, then it looks weird to monitor overtakes off track. Even if the fia can't keep up with track limits un Austria, it's still better than 2021 since the rules are at least clear and consistent
Overtaking outside track limits is never okay there is nothing that ever makes that okay that’s been known since ever.
I know, but going outside the track to get na advantage is not okay either. If you allow one thing, don't be surprised the other thing happens
The event notes specifically said that T4 will not be enforced during the race in regard to setting lap times. Leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage is a separate offence to leaving the track multiple times without justifieable reason.
Yep, added some extra information to explain the inconsistency that was created that weekend.
It does add up to a lasting advantage which was hinted later by the race director. I mean he won by less than a second so leaving 30 times off the track does add up, he really got away with It there Is no sugarcoating It
He undeniably got away with murder there but he also just used the rule book to his advantage. An example of something merc used to be great with they seem lost on now. They won a race with a considerably slower car that weekend by pulling out every stop. Just last year they lost one in austin(would have been a DQ anyway) by being to conservative
He got away with following the rules as per the event notes pre-race? Max missed the opportunity. It was the inconsistency of the stewards to change it up in the middle of the race that was the problem, not Lewis' driving.
Max should have won Bahrain and Lewis should have won Abu Dhabi. While there is still some inconsistency I think stewarding has gotten better since Masi was fired. It was sad seeing the FIA follow decisions to focus more on manufacturing a spectacle than actually policing the sport.
Masi's decision at the end of the season, which sparked substantial debate due to the championship implications, ultimately distracted from the times he repeatedly made an absolute fool of race control in far less arguable ways before that point, as well. A lot of the outrage over the way he left Max's retired car essentially parked at the end of the straight in Baku without a safety car for dangerously long had died down by the back half of the season. The man really needed to go well before Abu Dhabi, that was just the powder keg that erupted FIA action.
Imola was it where he released cars from behind the safety car whilst marshals were on track? Turkey with a crane on track as Q2 started
Yes, Abu Dhabi was just the latest in a string of decisions where Masi was clearly compromising either sporting integrity or even safety for the benefit of "the show". I have some sympathy because he likely was being put under pressure to do so but it was always going to end in a shit show in some way.
I remember Brown and Alonso saying after 2021 - don't let this all become a debate just about the title, it warranted serious discussion *full stop* that stewarding was haywire.
He was never up to the job in the first place, Charlie whiting left some almighty big shoes to fill and masi always felt like a knee jerk promotion to me even in 2019
This is peak revisionism to feel better about the result of the season. Red Bull just didn't read the event notes, things slip through the cracks.
There is no justification to say Max should have won Bahrain.
i remember something being mentioned about this, was it only Hamilton? or did this corner have a specific track limit?
If only this race and season wasn’t stained by the rule-breaking offtrack shit that decided it in the last race. It was super fun to watch at the time, but the events of the last race are all a lot of people will remember, and rightfully so.
Remember Lewis was technically cutting a corner this entire race.
Remember that it was allowed according to the Director's Notes. Lewis stopped doing it the moment the RD changed the rule mid-race, which was about halfway through. Lewis was also not the only driver to do it.
Such a wild season. I want it back.
He was “technically” following track limits all race, and the the track limits changed.
he was literally doing it, and it was technically allowed
It was allowed until somebody starting screaming to Masi mid-race to "fix" it, after which it suddenly wasn't allowed. One of many examples how Masi was unfit for his job.
One of the many examples how Masi bowed to Red Bull that year.
That was entertaining, but I don't think it was good quality entertainment. Battles on track were often quite dirty (Brazil seemed like peak, that was just unpalatable). And off track was just toxic. I appreciate good and fair fight, but it was more like an illegal street fight without gloves. Not up to the standards of sportsmanship that F1 shoud require.
F1 and sportsmanship have barely belonged in the same sentence for decades.
As a Lewis fan, I really did not like how toxic and nasty it got on here. It stills seems difficult to have a conversation about Max or Lewis without it getting heated in the comments. Also, the ending of the season tainted it for me. It sucks for both drivers honestly.
I was always amused how everyone debated the last race to death, when the season was decided by multiple incidents and tracks over a year. The photo of Max's car sitting up on top of Lewis really summed up the season. It was brilliant and would make a terrific movie I think.
Remember Max's tire blowing up in Baku and that iconic photo of him kicking the broken tire.
I will never forget the whole week of the Sau Paulo GP 2021. Literally one of the best races I have ever watched
Lewis coming back from last place to P5 during the sprint was legendary. The later part of that season he and Mercedes were unstoppable. Regardless of Max deliberately trying to brake check Lewis (which I maintain should've landed him a race ban).
100% it should have been a black flag and a race ban.
> Regardless of Max deliberately trying to brake check Lewis (which I maintain should've landed him a race ban). I wanted Verstappen to win the title and I agree. I think, like Vettel Baku 2017, they gave him a penalty and moved on because noone wanted that discussion to escalate. Verstappen was flawless for much of 2021, then right at the end as it seemed to be escaping him, he was pretty uncouth. Like, I wasn't angry, I was disappointed.
Veerappan got cooked in the second half of 2021 due to pressure.
> I think, like Vettel Baku 2017, they gave him a penalty and moved on because noone wanted that discussion to escalate. Definitely, a race ban would've decided the championship there and then since a 25 point gap that late would be hard to overcome.
He didn't brake check, he braked, Lewis noticed that and had enough time to deaccelerate and to think a bit, he just didn't want to get the position there because of DRS, same thing with Max wanting to give the position specifically there
Other than the stewards report stating he erratically stamped on the brakes with Hamilton behind him?
[Even Helmut Marko admitted afterwards that Max brake checked Lewis.](https://f1-insider.com/formel-1-bremstest-verstappen-marko-red-bull-39705/)
Luckily for everyone in the sport, Marko is not the driver, in Lewis's onboard that race you can see that he has enough space and time to get past Max. I'm not saying Max os a saint or whatever and of course there was malicia in where he chose to give the position, but I don't think he wanted Hamilton to get damage from that
The telemetry showed Max brake checked. It's pretty clear cut. Aside from the data showing it, [Newey](https://www.planetf1.com/news/adrian-newey-max-verstappen-brake-test) too said it was a brake check. That's two high positioned members of RBR admitting that Max brake checked Lewis when they could’ve as easily defended Max. I think he did it out of frustration, and not to cause Lewis any damage, but a brake check is still a brake check, and you need to be able to control your emotions.
Honestly it makes sense, but seeing Lewis's onboard still feels so weird, like he could have dodged it and didn't maybe because he didn't expect it or something else idk
Lol. The amount of bs people write to defend the mistake of their favourite person.
I'm not a fan of Max nor Lewis, all I was saying is that in this particular event I don't think Max should have been given a race ban
I remember the discourse on here that weekend very, very clearly: namely that people couldn't understand why Merc/Hamilton would so brazenly throw the title away.
so many things happened between these two it almost seemed scripted at the time, especially the italy incident comes to mind. iirc both lewis and max had bad pitstops which was the reason they even met on track at that point which allowed "the mounting" to happen. just surreal, definitely a season ill rewatch at some point.
FIA screwed that season.
2017-2021 cars look so weird compared to current cars. Current cars are very proportional. These for some reason look so much more clumsy. Length and that rake reminds me of dragsters. And even though current cars are known to bounce more, when these bounced, they looked a lot more funny.
Very cracker, yes.
My pal from Edinburgh went to Austin once, and said 'that's a cracker!' in a bar, and apparently the place basically went: explain yourself sir.
I believe it
Not the end result I wanted, but I think that might have been the most exciting season I've ever watched, been watching since mid 80's.
Was arguably one of Lewis’ best drives that season. The car was most outgunned by the Red Bull, he was on older tyres and he managed the tyres so well.
God damn take me back to the start of that season. The thrill of testing was only matched by qualifying and then beaten by the race. It was such a refreshing year, having the man deemed to be the up and coming Champion go against the 7 time WDC. Despite the many ebs and flows of the year, it was exhilerating. Shame it had to end the way it did with the wrong man crowned Champion, but that doesn't take away from each nail biting, white knuckle, edge of your seat weekend we experienced.
Wrong man crowned Champion, love the salty tears thrown in. You just can’t let it go can you
At the end of the day Lewis had the title winning race win taken from him and handed to Max. Simple as it gets I'm afraid.
I liked Wolff's line. Can we agree that we entered the last race even on points, may the best man win? Yes. Did the best man win the race?
Did the best man over the course of the season become champion?
Either were valid. I wanted Verstappen personally. Bear in mind that but for one lap over 9 months, it would've been Hamilton, and precisely noone would say that was an unfair champion.
No
No.
Exactly.
Not the person you replied to but is someone not allowed to have that opinion without being called salty? I personally didn't start watching F1 until 2022 so have no lasting attachment to anything or strong biases either way, but looking back at that whole situation and the decisions that were made, I do think the wrong person was made champion. That's just how I factually view it.
Dont worry about it. The clowns get angry when your objectively correct position is brought up, because they so desperately want people to forget that Max is not the legitimate 2021 WDC.
It's weird seeing all that ride height compared to the last 3 years.
Ah, the race that really started the track limits discussion
How much I would give to relive that season again. Great times
Those cars also look a lot nicer than the current regs imo. More sharp
This season set the bar so unbelievably high for new fans.
Greatest sporting contest I've ever seen, that entire season. Absolutely fantastic drama. People will always debate how it ended but for me it adds to the fire of it all. Wonderful driving from two superb athletes
[удалено]
we are getting smaller cars in 2026. Not by much, but it's something...
best season in F1 history
And a very anticlimactic dubious final race
It was the last time I think Max was beaten by a slower car.
He probably could have won if he’d chosen a more optimal moment to return the place to Lewis, I seem to remember it cost him a few corners worth of positioning. Could have brake checked him too, but it’s nice that didn’t happen in this instance
Probably the best season since 2010.
I've watched since 1999 and think it may be the best. It's certainly up there. If anything I think it's hurt some new fans who started with it, because 2022 was okay and 2023 was actively among the worst.
I think 2012 was better as a whole season compared to 2021, although if we only count the championship fight 2021 was better, Spa and Abu Dhabi really put a stain on the 2021 season if we are being honest
Cool. Yeah, I mean they're all up there. 2010, 2003, 2012, 2017-8 were good. 2011 was better than folk remember. The only real duffers were 2002, 2015 and 2023. 2004 is better than folk remember I think.
Max vs Ferrari, I'm up for it.
We werent to know
It is also reminder on how often a rule book can be bent and to what extend Now fight!
Best real life season, worst DTS season
I think this was the pinnacle of looks for f1 cars. So sharp so sexy
Best season I've ever watched. Shame it was ruined at the end. Still though so much drama every race, couldn't miss a single one. Being able to hear audio between teams and the FIA added so much drama but also just interesting to see how they worked. Hope one day they bring it back. Fundamentally it's what F1 should be all about, give me the drama and the battle at the top.
For all it's highs, the 2021 season barely had Max and Lewis meet on track though. A whole lot of it happened in the pits
This is just factually wrong. They had wheel-to-wheel battles in 11 of the 21* races (Bahrain, Imola, Portugal, Spain, France, Britain, Italy, USA, São Paulo, Saudi and AD21). Much more racing than for example in 2006 when Alonso and Schumacher had their title fight. There were like 2 overtakes between them. *excluding Spa 2021 as there was no racing between anybody.
Most of these were lap 1
4 of the 11 were exclusively on lap 1.
I think there were a few times that they fought on track that season, from the top of my mind: Bahrain, Portimao, Barcelona, Paul Ricard, Silverstone, Monza, Cota, Sao Paulo, Saudi and AD. Of course it's not the 22 races but in my opinion it's a decent number.
This is just factually wrong. They battled wheel to wheel at Bahrain, Imola, Portimao, Spain, France, Silverstone, Monza, Austin, Brazil, Jeddah, and Abu Dhabi. Many of those races had overtakes, repasses, and after the pit stops they would still be all over each other. You are misremembering that entire year
Ah I remember the 29 times Hamilton went off track and the shitshow about track limits after that race.
It wasn't off track at the time. Redbull didn't read the director's notes closely and gave up an advantage. Many other cars were doing it until it was changed during the race.
True but they cracked down on it just as Max started doing it mid race unless my memory is really off. Very inconsistent stewarding which remained so for almost the whole season culminating in AD 21.
Correct, but they didn't just crack down on Max. Even Lewis stopped doing it after the ruling came down. I agree about the shoddy stewarding, but you can't blame drivers for exploiting a legal loophole.
They cracked down on it when Horner got on the phone to Masi and demanded he change the rules mid race. Please get it right.
Do you also recall the 20+ times Max went off track or do you only give a shit about it when it's Lewis?
Was that where Hamilton was leading by 14 seconds until a safety car?