An incredible and highly controversial final offered to the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull) his first title Formula 1 on Sunday, aroused the recourse of the team of his British rival, Lewis Hamilton.
Le Monde with AFP
It was not necessary to spoil the party. The Stable of Formula 1 Mercedes decided to withdraw, Thursday, December 16, his call against the conditions of the coronation of Max Verstappen (Red Bull), became Sunday, December 12 World Champion F1 in front of the British Lewis Hamilton at the end of the Grand Prix Abu Dhabi.
The Dutch Verstappen is therefore assured of keeping the trophy awarded to the world champion, which must be given to him at the FIA Awards Gala, Thursday night in Paris. This decision follows the announcement by the International Federation of Automotive Sport (FIA), Wednesday night, the opening of an investigation into the controversial events that occurred at the end of the Grand Prix. The objective is that “conclusions be rendered before the beginning of the 2022 season”, in Bahrain on March 20, said the FIA.
“The Mercedes team will actively collaborate with this commission (…) We will keep the FIA responsible for this process and we remove our call here,” says the German manufacturer in a statement.
Team Statement – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix https://t.co/tgrbjrnkcz “/p>- Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team)
A polemical decision
The appeal withdrawn by Mercedes concerned the rejection of one of the two claims she filed immediately after the race, won by Verstappen in front of Hamilton thanks to a controversial decision of the race manager.
The victory in the GP, synonymous with Sacre because the two pilots presented themselves with equal points before this last sleeve, appeared promised to the seventh champion of the British world until the Crash of Nicholas Latifi at six towers of the arrival. The time to identify the Williams from the Canadian, the race has been neutralized behind the safety car. This is the way this neutralization ended at the very end of the GP that the German manufacturer disputed.
From the point of the F1 sports rules that he invoked, the restart of the race would have occurred too early, before the 58 e and last loop. Now, Verstappen doubled Hamilton in this last round, to win the victory and his first title. Without this, the Grand Prix would have ended behind the safety car, without the possibility of doubling, and the Mercedes driver would have been winner and champion.
In their decision to reject this claim, the commissioners had felt that “although the article [in question] may not have been fully applied,” the following article of the Regulation “prevailed” by That the message “The safety car returns to the end of this turn” applies immediately when it is sent by the race direction.
Mercedes asked “that the commissioners remedy the situation by modifying the ranking to reflect the positions at the end of the penultimate turn,” the commissioners had added. But “it’s [ssai] t of a measure that, according to [them] shortens the race retrospectively and [was] so not appropriate”.