[CMOTD]

Good to see it has all been sorted now! The FIA accepts that the image of the sport has been tarnished and will carry out a full investigation but actually it is just a 'misunderstanding' on the part of the media and fans so we will carry on as normal.

[Kevan]

Get the big brush and lift that carpet...FIFA, IOC and European Super League all over again...nothing to see here, nothing happened, rules are there to be interpreted as and how preferred as and when required for the greater good of the script writers.

[Kevan]

A song comes to mind...

[Henk]

Get over it!

Lewis Hamilton got his first serious opponent since 2016 and lost in the end, after a season with luck and bad luck and good and bad decisions from the race director on both sides.

He did not loose the title in the last race, he lost it over the season. And what a season it was.

I guess that he would have done a „Rosberg“ when he would have won his eight title.
Not showing up at the FIA gala is not what I expected from him, he lost a lot of my respect for him doing that.

[JasonB]

It was indeed a great season, and Max is a great driver.

The problem that many F1 fans have, is that he was handed two Grand Prix wins which were not deserved, and weren't earned on the track. First at Spa for driving two laps behind the safety car which was a farce and an insult to the fans, and then in Abu Dhabi, where F1 broke it's own rules to hand him the title on a plate.

We all want to see great racing, and we've seen a lot of it this year, bit it's obvious to any fan of fair sport that you can't change the rules of the sport on the last lap of the last race of the season.

I can totally understand the Dutch fans, the Verstappen fans, and the anti Hamilton brigade celebrating the win, but I'm a fan of the sport first and foremost, so I can't find anything to celebrate when the world championship was decided in the race director's office, not on the track.

I'm sure Max will go on to actually "earn" the title of world champion one day. I hope so for his sake, because he didn't do that on Sunday.

[Bazzer]

I guess that he would have done a „Rosberg“ when he would have won his eight title.

Henk

I don't agree with what you have said but respect your right to an opinion, LH has had good opposition but has managed to beat them, Vettal at Ferrari was surely good opposition especially with the special engines.

We don't really have to get over it as it will only be a matter of time before we have another British driver chasing a World Drivers title, that might be LH, or could be George Russell or Lando Norris.

I am interested in what you hypothesise over that LH would have retired if he won the 8th WDC at Abu Dhabi, who do you think MGP would have bought in to partner George Russell? I think they have Hamilton absolutely locked in at MGP.

English law does not allow anyone to force someone to work for them but there might be punitive contract breach clauses which keep LH locked in.

I just don't see how Toto and MGP could run the risk of not having a proven top driver for 2022.

[Scuderia_Turini]

Sir Lewis has loudly stated that he wants to be known for more than being a GP driver. If he is serious about that then he needs to tone down his GP activity so retiring at 8 championships would have been a neat exit.

[Bazzer]

Sir Lewis has loudly stated that he wants to be known for more than being a GP driver. If he is serious about that then he needs to tone down his GP activity so retiring at 8 championships would have been a neat exit.

Leo

Same question to you as for Henk, how did MGP protect themselves from that retirement? George is not ready to be the No 1 driver in MGP

[Henk]

I guess that MGP would bring back Bottas as a teacher and a mentor for George.
Alfa Romeo could keep Giovinazzi or bring in another talent, maybe Piastri (F2 winner this year).

Lewis Hamilton looked tired, he has been racing on the edge most of his life and is, nowadays, socially engaged. I expected him to stop and announce that at the FIA gala.

Next year is another ball game, the cars change so much that it could be a year like 2009 when Brawn GP surprised everyone with their diffuser. Eventually the other teams will catch up, as always. But with the budget cap it will take them more time. So maybe MGP/Hamilton will never win a title again. Don’t forget that Hamilton is not a youngster anymore, he doesn’t have that much more time for his eight.

[Nonfractal]

I'm not buying the "conspiracy againt Mercedes (and Lewis)" concept.
I'm a fan of Lewis, The definition of a quintessential 21st century Englishman and an example to us all.
He's also the "local boy" for me (very local) , so I'm just glad he is someone we can all look up to.

However during the season and the final race, track decisions were made that favoured each team.
In the end, the race came down to strategy , pit stops and tyres, not  some crazy Senna/Prost scenario or any anti Merc conspiracy.

RedBull and Max won in the end NOT because the car was better, or the driver was better, or even because of great strategy but because they were left with no options than to wish for a miracle and to position themselves just in case that miracle fell into their lap.
On the flipside, 15 seconds ahead & 15 laps to go Mercedes had no other option than to keep Lewis out on track and hope that Max had no opportunity to close that gap.

Don' t forget that Max still had to make that move in the final lap.
Being the best driver in the best car does not guarantee you the win. This is motor racing.

For those who think that we've seen the end of Lewis , think again. 
In a recent pre race interview Lewis said that if his younger McLaren era self had to race against himself now, the younger self would not stand a chance (but would never have accepted that an older version of himself could be faster) 

- we are defined by our of our adversaries
- we are defined by our response to our defeats
Lewis had had (and done) the best of both.

Rock on 2022, could Lewis  even BE more focused? Is that even possible?
Alan