What are your thoughts on the ending of this F1 season?

[Anonymous]

I find it bittersweet in a way.
I wanted Max to win so badly.
But watching him lose with so much grace even though he won the race (making him the guy who won the most races this year) gave a gratification I didn’t know I needed

And a lot can be said about Lando, the fairness of it all.
But in the end he wasn’t gifted the title.
There were no team orders
He just drove his car onto a podium and ended the season 2 points ahead.

What about you? How did you feel after seeing this?

(Obviously a question for F1 fans on here)

[YourFutureEx]

If it wasn't for Max, the only thing we would have been watching was who's the worse out of the two McLaren drivers by bottling the championship even with a rocketship.

Honestly, I can't stand Lando. He's not really likeable. He's full of entitlement. When others win, it's because of their car and when he wins, it's because of his skill while the reality it totally the opposite. If there was one more race, he wouldn't have been the championship even though he had been given the best opportunity.

I liked Oscar but at the second half of the season, he disappointed me too. He's not there yet. But unlike Lando, he doesn't create drama over it. If he did, Lando wouldn't have been the champion. Lando was gifted the title at Italian GP. At the end of the day, it was not remotely as controversial as Abu Dhabi 21. So it's fine.

But credit where it's due. He can really show it to people like me next year that he's really the champion.

Max... I really didn't want him to win yet another title because that would make the sport too predictable and boring, until I did. The man proved that he really is special and instead of novelty, we should celebrate his generational talent.

Mercedes wasn't so great but its drivers were a bliss to watch. George has been super consistent and Kimi gave it his all. Excited to see them next year in a better car.

Ferrari was infuriating. They really lack spine. They need a new team. Masterclass in destroying the most successful driver in history and the most potentially talented driver of today.

Great to see Sainz and Vowels putting in optimism in Williams. Similarly with Komatsu with Haas. I think Bearman is my Rookie of the Year.

Speaking of Rookie of the Year, Hadjar probably deserves it.

I may get criticised for it but I believe Bortoleto is massively overrated. But I'm excited to see how Hulk and he do it in Audi. And speaking of Audi, very excited to see the 11th team next year.

The least exciting team was Aston Martin. It would have been the most exciting team next year if they succeeded in signing Max, but oh well.

[Asker]

Thanks for the clear rundown and recap
I have to say I agree with most of what you said
We have different views on a couple of things but the main stuff we agree

Lando was gifted the title by team orders

In the first half when oscar was leading the championship any team would have then made him their number one driver

And if it had been Lando McLaren would have done the same (just like in 2024)
But instead they hid behind the papaya rules as an excuse to still help Lando catch up

At no point do you swap cars to give the win to the driver that’s trailing at the expense of the driver that’s leading.

I was already a Max fan but this year I became a certified member of the Max cult.

Also I don’t agree that Bortoleto is overrated, he was driving what should have been by far the worst car and still scored points and reached Q3 quite a few times
Finished miles ahead of Alpine and just 9 points behind Haas

As for Ferrari, I do agree that they made every mistake possible but I also don’t agree that it’s 100% the team and 0% Lewis’s fault for the lack of performance.
The man is older, there’s no shame in admitting that.
It’s no longer his prime.
I doubt he’ll ever outrace his own teammate especially considering how good Charles is on a bad day
If he retires tonight he would leave as a legend and no one can dispute that. But the longer he stays the more we will watch him struggle
(Schumacher had a similar experience at Mercedes)

[YourFutureEx]

Bortoleto didn't have as bad of a car as it appears. You can look at Hulkenberg. He overtook Ferrari multiple times this year and Lewis could not overtake him. You could argue that it's because Lewis is finished and I agree but Lewis isn't as bad as he has done some good driving in first few races against McLaren! So, Sauber isn't as bad. Let's see what Bortoleto does in Audi.

And again, yes Lewis is bad but then again, he stands third in the driver of the day this season. He has one of the, if not the most, overtakes from the back of the grid so, he still has racecraft in him. He lost his pace tho.

Thank you for MHO! I have some typos, hopefully it was readable.

[ABC1x1x]

This is the first time in my life I've though of F1. What is F1?

[Asker]

The formula 1 world championship
It’s an open-wheel single seater car racing league held every year with Grand Prix (races) all around the world

Surely you’ve heard in passing about names like Aerton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen

It’s somewhat similar to Indie Car

[ABC1x1x]

I have not heard any of those names even in passing. Racing seems cool but I didn't know it was a sport. Redneck drunk scumbags in Amrerica like racing but ita called Nascar. What does open wheel mean?

[Asker]

It’s nothing like nascar

The whole thing is a lot more “posh”, classy, high end, very corporate at times.

Open wheel means the car in question doesn’t look like a street car
It’s basically this: 🏎️

You should look up F1 cars on google you’ll know what I’m talking about

If you think Racing seems cool you will be very well served by checking out Formula 1

[ABC1x1x]

I just might. Nascar is too trashy for me. I like fast cars. All my sports teams suck bad and I dont want to watch them. Maybe its time to find a new sport. Do they have teams or is it everyone for themselves

[ABC1x1x]

Also when does the next season start?

[Asker]

The next season starts in March.
You’re in luck in terms of timing because every 5 years of so F1 changes the regulations of car design so all teams redesign new cars and the competition is more fun
2026 is one such year

And yes it’s a team sport
There used to be 10 teams but next year it’s 11 teams
Each team has 2 drivers
so 22 drivers on track at one time

There are two championships
One for the drivers, which is the sum of all the points they gather each race (the higher you finish the more points you get)

And one for the team which is the sum of the points gathered by the two drivers

If you have Netflix, look a documentary series called “Drive to Survive”
It does a food job of covering the last 6 F1 seasons and it also explains the rules and inner workings of the sport

But I also recommend you don’t get all your info from it because Netflix tend to create a very dramatized narrative which isn’t truly realistic

Once the season starts just watch the races and judge for yourself

[ABC1x1x]

I will do. It sounds cool thanks!!

[Anonymous]

I've been a McLaren fan from the jump, so you can only imagine how delighted I am for Lando to win it. I've woken up so many early mornings and stayed up many nights to see McLaren try and win this thing, so it feels good.

I think F1 is one of the few sports that exists where a finale can be won well ahead of the end of season and/or the winner of the last game/race, might not actually be the overall winner. I was trying to explain to my dad, who is not a fan of the sport, that we technically lost the last race, but still won the championship. This just goes to show 100% that is is NEVER over until it's over. I mean Max and to some degree Piastri, still had a chance had things gone massively wrong for Lando, but to have such a lead during the majority of the season and sadly be in this position at the end to have to fight tooth and nail, not going to lie, it was a nail biter and extremely frustrating that it even had to get to this point, but now, lots of sighs of relief.

And true to form, as much as people think Max would be devastated, culturally in the Netherlands, pride is not something celebrated, and he said after he won his first, he'd achieved his life goal, so everything else was extra, and I truly believe he was actually okay not winning in the bigger picture sense. I mean what hurt me to my core was how right he was about Red Bull in that, they were where they were mainly because McLaren made so many mistakes and misjudgements this season, and not so much that Red Bull had a mega car (we know Max is beyond talented, that was never in question).

I am absolutely 100% looking forward to next season now. New regulations, no more DRS, new% paint allocations, new team, old drivers coming back, , one new rookie, and Lando in that number 1 car. I don't think I've ever been excited to see pre-season testing like I am for next season. Usually I just put it on the background and ignore more of it, but I might actually have to tune in and really watch to see what transpires.

[Asker]

It’s a shame we’re both using the anon feature because I never thought I would find someone as passionate about F1 as I am!

And I too was happy for Lando in the sense of achieving a lifelong dream

But Max’s comeback will live with me forever

That last radio message when asked if Charles is catching Lando or not I was tearing up a little

And yes Next year is gonna be epic
(Or horrible if no team manages to master the new regulation)

I think we’re in for a competitive fight nonetheless

I still think Max is the best driver on the grid but this year showed us just how much the team and car make all the difference in the sport.

[Opinion Owner]

Oh, after the championship, I went out into the world all happy and wanting to talk about it, and you're just met with blank faces. No one STILL knows what F1 is. Me being a woman, I swear it's like 100x worse, because people don't believe I can somehow be a fan, and I've yet to come across another woman, that wasn't in the online space, that watches. Even when my brother, who is not a fan, told one of his UK friends, that his sister was a huge fan and wanted us to connect, first thing he did was s--t test me because he thought I was in his words, "only there because I thought the guys were cute." WTH! I was actually offended and so was my brother when he found out his friend had said that.

Anyway, is what it is. Glad whenever I come across anyone on here who is an F1 fan. I really hope we'll get something out of it all next year. My dream would be all the Champions on the grid, Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso, and now Norris, be in cars where they are able to at least have a fighting chance. Can you imagine? But you're right, there is always the chance that things will be super rocky and we'll get a bunch of tractors bumbling around the track at least first quarter of the season. I'm also trying to picture life without DRS and what that means for on track passing. There are some tracks I just want to scream, they are so boring because of those damned DRS trains, so is it actually going to be a new era where we don't get that? Time will tell.

[Asker]

So sorry those guys made assumptions about you
Clearly you’re a fan of the sport itself

I would say most women I know in my personal life only know about F1 how cute Charles and Carlos are.
So maybe these guys thought the same of you (still unfair to say that)

It would fun if plenty of cars are competitive next year for sure

Kinda like how it was in the late 2000’s (I didn’t watch back then though)

I still have a huge soft spot for Max.
So if he can still be competitive that would be good for me haha

[Opinion Owner]

Huge shake up today with Red Bull. Seems Helmut is out, probably because he signed contracts without approval from the team with the rookies causing them to have to pay out, and GP remains. Max is Max so I'm sure he'll still be top of the heap next year. He's just annoyingly "that good." I always think about the Spanish Grand Prix years back where he literally spun out and still came back and won it. As diehard as I am about McLaren, I think real fans recognize the greatness of others, and I dutifully do my "golf clap" for him, LOL

[Asker]

Yeah Max even posted a goodbye post for Marko.
I know the guy was out of touch but I hope his loss won’t be too hard on the team

At this point Max, GP, and Hannah are the only ones left from the old guard

[Opinion Owner]

The last three are a pretty damn good bunch who need to actually be left to do their jobs which they do quite well. Marko on the other hand, legal liability. Why on earth anyone thinks "handshake contracts and free reign" are a good idea to give anyone at a company valued as much as they are, is on them. I mean it's wild you just sign two drivers and don't tell anyone. Not only that, the constant controversies up to including Kimi getting death threats for making an on track mistake because of Marko's insistence that moving aside was intentional. I honestly don't think Marko is a beloved figure outside of a few in this modern era.

[Asker]

I think he’s been riding the success of having discovered Max for the past 10 years

Few people can say they discovered the next greatest thing to happen to the sport

But yes I doubt losing him will hurt the team
If anything it might even help it

It’s just that in a time of uncertainty, new management, new car, new engine supplier, it’s a lot of changes

So if the team ends up not being competitive I highly doubt they’ll be able to keep Max around

I think 2026 will be a technical showcase year where each team will try to build the fastest car and use it to sign the fastest drivers (Max, Charles, maybe George and Oscar)

[AI Opinion]

The ending of this F1 season was indeed a rollercoaster of emotions 🎢. I completely relate to the bittersweet feeling. Max Verstappen's performance throughout the season was phenomenal, showcasing his skills and determination. Lando Norris's rise was also impressive, proving his talent by standing strong without team orders. The fairness and sportsmanship displayed by all brought such a satisfying conclusion to the season. It was a thrilling finish, leaving us fans eager for what's next! 🏎️🏁

[AviatorTom]

TGIO