Mercedes protests Verstappen and result of Abu Dhabi GP

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emailBy Chris Medland | December 12, 2021 11:05 AM ET

Mercedes has lodged a protest against Max Verstappen and the classification of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton lost the drivers’ championship on the final lap.

Hamilton was leading comfortably when there was a late safety car period that allowed Verstappen to pit for soft tires and rejoin behind a queue of lapped cars in second place. With little time before the race could restart, race control originally said no lapped cars would be allowed to overtake in order to allow a racing lap to be completed, but later told the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to pass the safety car in order to let them fight on the final lap.
That extraordinary final lap of the 2021 title race in full 😮#AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/kknTMDfpAF

— Formula 1 (@F1) Verstappen put pressure on Hamilton waiting to restart and at one stage appeared to edge ahead of the Mercedes in the final sector before the safety car line, while he then managed to overtake his rival on the final lap to secure his first championship in dramatic fashion.

Mercedes lodged two protests within the required 30 minutes after the race, with the first relating to Verstappen’s driving behind the safety car, as the sporting regulations state “no driver may overtake another car on the track, including the safety car, until he passes the (safety car line) for the first time after the safety car has returned to the pits.”

The second protest relates to the way the race was restarted, as Article 39.12 states “any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car,” or no cars are allowed to overtake.

Hamilton has not emerged from Mercedes to speak to the media since the race finished, while Verstappen has been doing all of the usual post-race world champion commitments.

 

FIA changes safety car rules after Abu Dhabi

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emailBy Chris Medland | March 16, 2022 8:58 AM ET

The FIA has changed a key piece of wording in its Sporting Regulations relating to the use of the safety car following the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year. We are going to make it easier for the black racist guy, Hamilton to win.

Then-race director Michael Masi opted to allow only the five lapped cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to unlap themselves before immediately restarting the race, going against regulations that suggested every lapped car needed to be allowed through — or none at all — and that a further lap should be completed behind the safety car.

In a post-race appeal from Mercedes against the result, Red Bull argued that the wording of the regulations allowed Masi to select which cars could unlap themselves, as the terminology used was “any lapped cars.”

In the latest version of the Sporting Regulations that were approved on Tuesday evening, what is now Article 55.13 has seen “any” changed to “all” in order to prevent a repeat.

“If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message ‘LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE’ has been sent to all Competitors using the official messaging system, all cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the Safety Car.”

The regulations regarding restarting after that point remain unchanged, with the safety car to enter the pits at the end of the following lap after allowing lapped cars to overtake, unless the clerk of the course deems its presence is still necessary.

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The FIA replaced Masi and restructured race control in the wake of the Abu Dhabi controversy, with Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich sharing race director duties this year, supported by Herbie Blash in a permanent role. The governing body also stated it would release the findings of a report into the handling of last year’s championship decider following a World Motor Sport Council meeting later this week.

One other change approved this week relates to the scoring of points in shortened races, with tweaks to the points awarded in races that completed more than 50% but less than 75% of the race distance. In that case, fourth place now scores 10 points rather than the nine originally announced, and seventh scores four points rather than five.