Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Formula 1 Stewards rejected two appeals lodged by Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton lost the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Verstappen won the last race of the season claiming his maiden Championship title after a controversial last minute move on Hamilton. The Dutchman was able to overtake the Mercedes driver on the final lap. Mercedes later launched a protest claiming that Verstappen initiated an overtake on Hamilton while the Safety Car was still on the track. The race stewards later dismissed the appeal citing that the pictures presented were inconclusive. Red Bull argued that Car 44 was not “overtaken” by Car 33, that both cars were “on and off the throttle” and that there were “a million precedents” under Safety Car where cars had pulled alongside then moved back behind the Car that was in front.  Conclusions of the Stewards: The Stewards consider that the protest is admissible. Having considered the various statements made by the parties. The Stewards determine that although Car 33 did at one stage, for a very short period of time, move slightly in front of Car 44, at a time when both cars where accelerating and braking, it moved back behind Car 44 and it was not in front when the Safety Car period ended (i.e. at the line). The second appeal lodged by Mercedes was all about allowing lapped cars to overtake the Safety Car. After the Safety Car was brought out following Nicholas Latifi’s crash, Hamilton opted to stay on the track as Verstappen was called in to the pits for fresh tyres. Coming back to the track, the Red Bull driver was five lapped cars behind Hamilton. The Race Director later cleared the lapped cars to overtake the Safety Car, a move that directly landed Verstappen just behind Hamilton. Running on fresh soft tyres Verstappen had the advantage over Hamilton who had older tyres. The Race Stewards dismissed the protest stating that, Having considered the various statements made by the parties the Stewards determine the following:  That Article 15.3 allows the Race Director to control the use of the safety car, which in our determination includes its deployment and withdrawal.  That although Article 48.12 may not have been applied fully, in relation to the safety car returning to the pits at the end of the following lap, Article 48.13 overrides that and once the message “Safety Car in this lap” has been displayed, it is mandatory to withdraw the safety car at the end of that lap.  That notwithstanding Mercedes’ request that the Stewards remediate the matter by amending the classification to reflect the positions at the end of the penultimate lap, this is a step that the Stewards believe is effectively shortening the race retrospectively, and hence not appropriate.  Accordingly, the Protest is dismissed. The Protest Deposit is not refunded.

After Hamilton’s dramatic last lap overtake by Red Bull title rival Max Verstappen in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Mercedes has presented two appeals. Max Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday evening claiming his first World Championship title. This was after a dramatic last lap overtake on Hamilton at Turn 5 which brought a lot of controversy surrounding the situation under which the overtake was initiated. Mercedes presented their appeal to the FIA for Verstappen’s overtake on Hamilton under the safety car. They also presented another on safety car procedure itself questioning why only a number of lapped cars were allowed to overtake the Safety Car. Lewis Hamilton had dominated over the final race in the 2021 Formula 1 calendar which would decide the title champion as he was on level points with Verstappen. Stretching his lead over the Red Bull driver as the race progressed, it was certain the Briton would add one more championship title to the seven titles under his name. Fortunes changed after Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed bringing out the Safety Car on lap 53. With only five laps left, Red Bull took advantage of the delay to bring in Verstappen for fresh soft tyres. Meanwhile Hamilton opted to stay out and maintain the lead and track position despite running on old tyres. As Verstappen headed back to the track, there were five lapped cars between him and Hamilton. Still rallying behind the Safety car, the Race Director Michael Masi cleared the lapped cars to overtake the safety car despite disallowing the same initially. With the lapped cars out of the way, Verstappen was now trailing behind Hamilton and the battle to the chequered flag was imminent. Verstappen soon got to overtake Hamilton on Turn 5 maintaining the lead all the way to the finish.