I still don’t understand how Hamilton got away with cutting the corner on the first lap, if it had been anybody else they would have had to give the place back. Max was ahead going into the corner and he managed to stay on track.Hamilton cuts the corner and gets away with gaining an advantage.
I think Hamilton should have given Max as much room as permitted but kept his car on the track at the limit of the white line. Then there would have been a massive smash as Max had nowhere to go having over cooked it. It's very Senna like which is ironically Lewis's hero.
Assuming both cars were then out (re: Monza) and the stewards had applied their penalty as threatened as the beginning of the race, the DWC would have been decided on the first lap and if that had meant Max lost, well he shouldn't have been so reckless on the last race of the season, despite his otherwise driving brilliance.
The stewards knew this, and so I suspect factored it into the decision. They have the data and every replay available; we do not.
Another alternative is that it is accepted that cars flinging it dangerously up the inside of a turn is okay, and the driver on the outside must take all evasive action, run themselves off the race track including any risks (humps, gravel, wall) and then if they don't come out worse off, take a penalty as well. I believe Max has the talent to win without resorting to this, and I will look forward to seeing him mature and get better with age.
I've been hoping (waiting) for Max to get a title on the board for a while, but the way this happened yesterday doesn't feel like the "sportman's victory" which he, or any other winner, deserves. His win will always be tainted. As soon as that crash happened I was shouting at the TV to red flag the race as anything else just seems like a massive fix. Both Max and Lewis have lost out here in my view.
The whole debacle has turned the pinnacle of motor sport into a farce of a soap opera/"reality" show.
