F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Verstappen is world champion, Mercedes to appeal after complaints dismissed

Max Verstappen can take his breath away: he is indeed Formula 1 world champion. Mercedes’ two post-race complaints, concerning Articles 48.8 and 48.12, were ruled inadmissible by the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race marshals. These decisions therefore confirm the result of the race and the final classification of the 2021 World Championship. Under the blows of 9:00 pm, Mercedes announced by statement on Twitter that it intended to appeal.

Before this new turn of events, the suspense had ended an hour earlier at 8 p.m. Paris time, with the announcement in a press release from the International Automobile Federation (FIA) of the refusal to act on the complaint concerning the most problematic section 48.12. Mercedes had found two breaches of the rules.

The German team first emphasized the fact that the race management had not let all the latecomers pass when they regrouped behind the safety car at the end of the 57th lap. Only Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel, the drivers who were between Hamilton and Verstappen, had passed the neutralization car. Relaunched for a lap, the race had seen Max verstappen blow the victory and the title in Hamilton.

Articles 15.3 and 48.13 will give Mercedes nightmares

The other case to be analyzed was the failure to respect the additional lap under the safety car regime after overtaking the latecomers. If the regulations had been applied to the letter, the race would have ended in a neutralized manner. The FIA ​​has also explained that it wants to finish the race in a “green” way, in order to allow the champions to finish the championship on the track, in perfect fairness. The “let them race” heard in Sao Paulo and the law of sport prevailed.

In its line of defense, Red Bull relied on Article 15.3 which gives authority to the race chief regarding the use of the safety car. The FIA ​​has retained this point, as well as article 48.13 which stipulates that the safety car must enter at the end of the concerned lap. In this case, the 48.13 applied in the 57th round canceled the 48.12.

Red Bull defended itself well

Coming to the hearing as an implicated party, with three men – Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and Jonathan Weathley – Red Bull saw its defense arguments heard. For article 48.8 – Mercedes felt that Max Verstappen had passed Lewis Hamilton on the safety car regime on lap 57 – the Austrian team explained that this had not affected the final result of the race.

After studying this first case, the race marshals decided not to follow up on the German team’s appeal. They had ruled Red Bull’s defense admissible. The Austrian team explained during their hearing that the two pilots did not perform the same task – one braking (Hamilton), the other accelerating (Verstappen) – when the Dutchman had passed Hamilton for a few moments.

Red Bull had also argued that there had been many similar cases in Formula 1 history. “There have been a million precedents“, supported Jonathan Wheatley, the sports director of RB, who came alone to this first hearing.