Mercedes has withdrawn its appeal against the refusal of the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix commissioners to consider its protest over the manner in which Red Bull’s Dutchman Max Verstappen won the final race of the year by overtaking the then race leader, Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, in the end, thus winning the category’s world title. Start the next year with the right foot, open a betting account with the best betting agent and make the most out of it.
The decision comes after the International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced on Wednesday the opening of an investigation into the controversial events that occurred at the end of the GP at the Yas Marina circuit.
“The Mercedes team will actively cooperate with this committee (…) and we withdraw our appeal,” the German team disclosed.
Thus, Dutchman Max Verstappen retains the world championship title that will be officially awarded on Thursday night during an FIA ceremony in Paris.
The appeal withdrawn by Mercedes referred to one of the two complaints the team had filed immediately after the race won by Verstappen, who finished ahead of Hamilton thanks to a controversial decision by the race director.
Victory in Sunday’s GP, which started with the two drivers tied on points, seemed to be in the hands of the seven-time British world champion until Nicholas Latifi crashed six laps from the end.
During the time it took to remove the Canadian’s Williams from the track, the safety car was activated and the participants’ positions were maintained.
The German team protested against the return of the safety car to the pit lane on the penultimate lap, contrary to the Sporting Rules of the category, which state that this must be done on the lap following the realignment of the cars.
According to the F1 regulations that Mercedes cited, the race restart would have occurred one lap earlier than it should have, before the 58th and final lap.
Citing the regulations, the German carmaker argued that the GP should end with the cars following the safety car, with no possibility of overtaking, which would give the race victory and, consequently, the world title to Hamilton.
In their decision to reject this complaint, the race stewards considered that “although the article (in question) may not have been fully applied,” the following article of the regulations “prevailed,” stating that the message “the safety car returns at the end of that lap “applies immediately when it is sent by race management. while we wait for the new season to start, stay tuned to our news section for the most up-to-date information.