The full verdict released by the FIA stewards and their explanation for dismissing Mercedes’ protest after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021
As the FIA and race director Michael Masi allowing five lapped cars to overtake as the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021 resumed in the aftermath of Nicholas Latifi’s crash, all hell broke loose.
Not only was Masi’s decision a contradiction of his previous message of not allowing cars to overtake as the safety car was deployed with five laps to go but it wasn’t as per the typical guidelines which traditionally see all cars being allowed to overtake upon the restart. Masi’s decision allowed Verstappen who was now on new soft tyes to start the race directly from behind Hamilton on the final lap.
The FIA Release Entire Verdict With Lead To Them Dismissing Mercedes’ Protest At The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The decision was a massive setback for Mercedes with Hamilton losing out to Verstappen on the night and with it the 2021 F1 drivers’ championship title. It subsequently lead to Mercedes launch a protest as the race came to an end, on the grounds of a breach of Article 48.12 of the FIA’s Sporting Regulations which 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 once the last lapped car has passed the leader, the Safety Car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap”.
However, the FIA stewards after contemplating over the protest decided to overthrow it with Verstappen holding onto his title. The FIA released an entire statement talking about how it had come to the final decision with article 15.3 being integral in seeing Mercedes protest being clobbered.
The statement went onto read, “Protest filed by Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team against the Classification established at the end of the Competition Stewards Decision.”
Mercedes argued that had this been complied with, Car 44 would have won the race. They therefore requested the Stewards to amend the Classification under Article 11.9.3.h of the FIA International Sporting Code.
The Race Director stated that the purpose of Article 48.12 was to remove those lapped cars that
would “interfere” in the racing between the leaders and that in his view Article 48.13 was the one
that applied in this case.
The Race Director also stated that it had long been agreed by all the Teams that where possible
it was highly desirable for the race to end in a “green” condition (i.e. not under a Safety Car).
Conclusions of the Stewards:
The Stewards consider that the protest is admissible.
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.
Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in
accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.