You know, I dislike Max the driver, but looking back at last season, race by race, removing the dumb moves that Max made to intentionally crash, I think Horner and Red Bull out maneuvered Wolff and Mercedes a number of times. They also managed to keep Bad Max to a minimum the last two races and keep him in a position to win. Did Masi contribute to some of the Wolff failures in the final minutes? Yeah, but I really think that in total, RB and Max winning last year feels better than if Ham had been allowed to parade around for six laps with no actual racing.
I remain a huge Schumi fan and part of me doesn't want Ham to get to eight championships, but I've also learned to appreciate the sportsman that Ham is and would like to see him get it and then retire. It will be fun to watch the younger set compete with Max and see who comes out as the next challenger.
Leclerc is definitely the favorite at this point, but I feel like Sainz and Pérez could very realistically throw some wrenches into this. Especially if Max makes things a little aggressive in later races, i.e. crashouts -- Sainz and Pérez will be right at the heels to clean house. Merc is also not out of the equation yet, imo, and I do believe we'll still see them on the podium in later races. And if I'm feeling hopeful, maybe even Alpine on the podium too. Haas might even make it to the podium too if KMag stays in the front half of the grid.
As far as last year, I very much agree that Hamilton got robbed of the Saudi GP win, but I don't think he was robbed of the championship. If that makes sense.
Did Ham get robbed and subsequently lose the title because of the Masi decision, for sure. Was I fuming because of the decision, hell yes... But, Max and Redbull (questionable moves aside) were far more consistent over the course of last season and deserved at least the WDC.
Merc not developing the front aero of their car from the 2020 car and then taking time getting on top of the car after the rule change to reduce the floor size/dimension put them on the back foot. Add to that, Honda pushed hard on the PU development and Redbull was able to make the better strategic moves a majority of the time during races. Opportunity met preparation... amongst other things.
Either way, was a good race Sunday. Lots of action, some good luck for certain people, bad for others. Curious how/if they address the whole "no, you go. no, after you..." brake test at the DRS detection zones, oh well, it was still fun to watch.
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