Official 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Thread **SPOILERS**

[parabolica]

Props to Haas securing 8th and Alfa securing 6th in the constructors; crap race for both teams today but great WCC result compared to previous years.

[rallycross]

It’s been a great season, such a shame they use this shyte circuit for the last race, it produces boring races .

[C70R]

rallycross said:

It’s been a great season, such a shame they use this shyte circuit for the last race, it produces boring races .

Has it really been "great"?

No real title race to speak of. WCC sewn up weeks ago.

An all-time low for non-DRS overtakes, and cars following each other for lap after lap.

RB have produced an incredible package, but the rest of the grid have been painfully inconsistent.

I love F1, but this was a hugely forgettable season.

[HorneyMX5]

1st season of new regs is often a bit hit and miss. Bring on pre season testing.

[paulguitar]

rallycross said:

It’s been a great season

[FourWheelDrift]

abzmike said:

peter tdci said:

It didn't sound entirely like that.

From the BBC live reporting:

Team Radio - Russell
Russell: What's going on?
Engineer: You're free to race

If they were always free to race, why didn't Russell just drive past him without calling his engineer?

If the result mattered a monkeys he would likely have got a different answer.

I think the question was about Lewis's, at that time lack of pace, was it a mechanical problem forming, aero damage from his off or a strategic pace to save tyres and he was told he could race/pass if he got the chance but expect defending I guess from Lewis.

[the-norseman]

C70R said:

Has it really been "great"?

No real title race to speak of. WCC sewn up weeks ago.

Pretty much like most of the Mercedes seasons then.

[thegreenhell]

super7 said:

You would have thought that Verstappen would use his superior car and talent to back LeClerc up into Checo?????

Max said after the race that wouldn't have been a nice or fair way to end the championship. I think he's still holding a grudge for whatever reason, despite what they say in public after last week.

It was also amusing that it was Gasly fighting him that cost Checo vital seconds in his chase. You could tell it was Pierre's last race with Red Bull and he didn't give a fk anymore.

[Si1295]

super7 said:

You would have thought that Verstappen would use his superior car and talent to back LeClerc up into Checo?????

https://imgur.io/Y2NDTbu?r

[paulguitar]

the-norseman said:

C70R said:

Has it really been "great"?

No real title race to speak of. WCC sewn up weeks ago.

Pretty much like most of the Mercedes seasons then.

2014, 2015, and 2016 were Hamilton vs Rosberg, some superb racing. 2018 and 2019 were Hamilton VS a competitive/cheaty Ferrari, some great battles.

So no, not really.

[parabolica]

C70R said:

rallycross said:

It’s been a great season, such a shame they use this shyte circuit for the last race, it produces boring races .

Has it really been "great"?

No real title race to speak of. WCC sewn up weeks ago.

An all-time low for non-DRS overtakes, and cars following each other for lap after lap.

RB have produced an incredible package, but the rest of the grid have been painfully inconsistent.

I love F1, but this was a hugely forgettable season.

First half was decent; Max and Charles neck and neck, Russell silently getting strong results, tight midfield and Bottas and Kevin outperforming the cars. Second half was pretty predictable; Max freight-trained the WDC, Ferrari imploded, Merc got back on their game too late & Norris was single-handedly rep’ing McLaren week in week out.

Just because the !ax convincingly won the championship doesn’t mean the season wasn’t good.

[ajprice]

Happy that Leclerc stayed ahead of Perez so the 1-2 didn't happen. Other than that and waving Vettel off, it wasn't the greatest.

[hot metal]

Those 2 twerps Schumacher & Latifi ran into each other again, I was hoping for a safety car but they cleared the track.

[cgt2]

thegreenhell said:

Max said after the race that wouldn't have been a nice or fair way to end the championship. I think he's still holding a grudge for whatever reason, despite what they say in public after last week.

It was also amusing that it was Gasly fighting him that cost Checo vital seconds in his chase. You could tell it was Pierre's last race with Red Bull and he didn't give a fk anymore.

It was notable in a few of the interviews pre race that Max kept mentioning helping Checo get 2nd. Clearly a contrived set of statements to offset last week in case people are gullible enough to think he gives a fk about his teammate.

The only bright spot of the weekend is CLC getting into second.

And a shame Vettel didn't finish higher after such a strong first stint.

Today may buy Binotto some time but Ferrari really need to get their act together.

[alex_2015]

cgt2 said:

It was notable in a few of the interviews pre race that Max kept mentioning helping Checo get 2nd. Clearly a contrived set of statements to offset last week in case people are gullible enough to think he gives a fk about his teammate.

All that was RB team PR department instructions. Mentioning the "team", helping Checo, bla bla. Show unity outside to the public, sponsors, etc. You
could see by their dropped faces that something is going on over there after Brazil. Even their smiles look forced.

It's obvious that there was not the same degree of help SP provided MV last year on the same track. I remember the last laps MV on radio saying he helps SP by keeping the distance to CL to avoid giving him a tow. Yeah that was really helpful. It's another way of saying he does his own race without getting involved.

From life experience I can say that MV made his life unnecessarily complicated, I thought he was smarter and that has matured. But he is the same hot head. He will loose SP support. Yes SP will pretend to help him / obey team strategy but in practice will do everything not to be there in the spot. Also mama Verstappen throwing slops at Perez did not help either. Zero class. Shows a bit MV education background.

It was interesting also to see after Brazil the dropped faces of main RB team members. All the above must have caused internal turmoil, broke the relative fragile harmony that was before and for sure there were hard discussions. Look at MV in his interviews that he wasn't that tonic anymore and he looked preoccupied behind. I guess he realized what comes next. He lost one more "friend". As the saying: better have one friend than making one enemy.

I was a fan of MV last and this season, hoping he evolved into a real champion. But seeing this low moral display from his side it shows who he really is. He lost my appreciation.

Edited by alex_2015 on Monday 21st November 07:40

[carlo996]

the-norseman said:

Pretty much like most of the Mercedes seasons then.

[C70R]

paulguitar said:

the-norseman said:

C70R said:

Has it really been "great"?

No real title race to speak of. WCC sewn up weeks ago.

Pretty much like most of the Mercedes seasons then.

2014, 2015, and 2016 were Hamilton vs Rosberg, some superb racing. 2018 and 2019 were Hamilton VS a competitive/cheaty Ferrari, some great battles.

So no, not really.

Exactly.

Some folks here are so tribal that they will literally reinvent history to make what they think is a point.

[ChocolateFrog]

hot metal said:

Those 2 twerps Schumacher & Latifi ran into each other again, I was hoping for a safety car but they cleared the track.

They will be missed.

[wpa1975]

C70R said:

Has it really been "great"?

No real title race to speak of. WCC sewn up weeks ago.

An all-time low for non-DRS overtakes, and cars following each other for lap after lap.

RB have produced an incredible package, but the rest of the grid have been painfully inconsistent.

I love F1, but this was a hugely forgettable season.

Agreed, very forgettable season

[Dingu]

abzmike said:

peter tdci said:

It didn't sound entirely like that.

From the BBC live reporting:

Team Radio - Russell
Russell: What's going on?
Engineer: You're free to race

If they were always free to race, why didn't Russell just drive past him without calling his engineer?

If the result mattered a monkeys he would likely have got a different answer.

One thing Mercedes generally can’t be criticised for is not letting their cars race. They impose team orders way less than other teams as we have seen for years and years.