[clf]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Deserved the title ???---Never, it was given to him. He won more races.

You don't need a crystal ball to know who was going to win - I genuinely thought Hamilton was going to win, and have felt he gets a fair bit of leeway when it comes to sporting decisions. He should have had a penalty after cutting the corner to gain an advantage - I still think he would have won the race had it not been for the safety car.

Situation.---( One lap race. )

Two drivers of equal ability - Hamilton has more maturity and experience, plus arguably more commercial value to the FIA. Hamilton has become more of a driver than a racer though. It will be interesting to see how Vertsappen compares in 10-12 years, as he looks like a more aggressive version of Hamilton in his earlier days.

Two cars with similar performance - No they dont. Hamilton's car had a much fresher engine after Verstappen had to use his penalty engines much earlier on in the season, with one physically broken by a crash caused by Hamilton!

One with new tyres.

One with tyres on their last legs. - Both teams were free to change tyres, Mercedes were too conservative (dont blame them, I think I would have done the same thing if I was them lol). Mercedes didnt change since a message came through that lapped cars were to hold station. This was an unusual call, but not against the rules, as it is common for the lapped cars to unlap themselves. Then confusingly, this was partially rescinded, to allow Hamilton and Verstappen to have no lapped cars between them (which in itself could have caused a controversy if they got in Verstappen's way, Hamilton from what I could gather did not lose any time when passing them). Mercedes made their decision based upon the first message, but Verstappen had already pitted by that point. If Mercedes pitted when Red Bull did, it would have closed/lost that advantage and made the argument moot.


Who would you put your money on to win ???? The race or the championship? The championship, Verstappen, the race Hamilton. Verstappen was the most consistent throughout the year, especially the first half. Mercedes only started to put the effort in after Hamilton threw his toys out of the pram, when Mercedes stated they had no plans to develop the car this year.


The race control removed the obstacle between them by letting the lapped cars go so the opponents were together.--A space that Hamilton had generated. Due to circumstances beyond Verstappen's control he did not have the opportunity to do it himself, as you must agree, he would have passed them during those last ten laps. I do think he should have been forced to allow Hamilton the distance he was ahead though, before the Lattifi's crash, AND Hamilton to have a 5 second time added penalty due his advantage gain from cutting that corner at the first lap. But in the heat of the moment, that would have been too complicated.


The title was GIVEN to verstappen.

Yes of course, he finished with the most points. You have to say though, that he won it through someone else's controversial actions rather than his own (eg Schumacher, Senna etc).

Just be grateful Jean Marie Balestre is not around.