FIA's official statement took nearly 400 words to say very little to appease an angry Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton.
- On Wednesday, the FIA finally responded to the controversy surrounding the season-ending Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with an official statement.
- It was a statement of nearly 400 words in which the FIA concluded with a rather inconclusive finding that “a detailed analysis and clarification exercise for the future with all relevant parties will now take place.”
- Mercedes will have an entire off-season to wonder what might have been.
Ever wonder what goes on behind the curtain at the FIA when a team protests a ruling made in regards to a Formula 1 race?
This past Sunday in Abu Dhabi, the Mercedes F1 team, driver Lewis Hamilton, and probably several million race fans worldwide were left scratching their heads after a rules interpretation basically handed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen the Formula 1 championship.
F1 race director Michael Masi was in the middle of the controversy on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
Clive Mason – Formula 1Getty Images
The setup to the interpretation will likely be talked about in F1 circles for years.
In case you missed it, on Lap 53 of 58 and with Hamilton cruising with a double-digit seconds lead over Verstappen, the Williams car of Nicholas Latifi went into the wall. The disabled car and debris brought out a Safety Car.
Here’s where it gets fun.
In between Hamilton and Verstappen were five lapped cars and as Latifi’s wreckage was cleared from the track, arguments continued between officials and team representatives over the situation. Initially, Race Control gave the message that lapped cars would not be allowed to roll post the lead car and return to to the back of the pack. But then, almost without warning, it was determined that the five cars in between Hamilton and Verstappen— rather than all eight cars who had been lapped—would be allowed to overtake the Safety Car just before the final lap.
The signal was then given to restart the race, and with Verstappen (on soft tires) allowed to position his Red Bull directly behind Hamilton’s Mercedes (on older hard tires) for a one-lap shootout. Hamilton was a sitting duck and Verstappen had not trouble making the pass and cruising to the win and the championship.
Mercedes argued after the race that restarting the race after just the five cars (and not the three lapped cars behind Verstappen) were allowed to pass the Safety Car was in contradiction to the Sporting Regulations, part of which reads “once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.”
Mercedes felt that all eight cars (including three lapped cars behind Verstappen) should have also been ordered to pass the safety car before the restart. In this case, that exercise would have taken another lap to complete and thus ending the race behind the Safety Car.
Race director Michael Masi answered an irate Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff after the race, “Toto, it’s called a motor race, OK? We went car racing.”
Mercedes protested the race result, but the protest was denied. Mercedes’ Wolff and Hamilton passed on appealing that ruling, and planned to skip Thursday’s F1 awards ceremony in Paris in protest.
Lewis Hamilton was not happy after losing the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the F1 championship on the last lap.
ATPImagesGetty Images
On Wednesday, the FIA responded with an official statement. It was a statement of nearly 400 words in which the FIA concluded rather inconclusively that “a detailed analysis and clarification exercise for the future with all relevant parties will now take place.”
So, while the FIA intends to study the matter further at a later date in an attempt to try to eliminate confusion or inconsistencies next time such a situation arises, Max Verstappen is the 2021 F1 World Champion … and Mercedes will have an entire offseason to wonder what might have been.
Statement of the FIA World Motor Sport Council
The world watched every race with great anticipation, knowing that in the end, there could only be one winner. In this respect, many praised Max Verstappen for his victory, and Lewis Hamilton for his remarkable performance and sportsmanship after the closing event of the season.
The 2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, has prompted a large number of reactions from the F1 community and from motor sport in general, as well as in the public.
The FIA’s primary responsibility at any event is to ensure the safety of everyone involved and the integrity of the sport.
The circumstances surrounding the use of the Safety Car following the incident of driver Nicholas Latifi, and the related communications between the FIA Race Direction team and the Formula 1 teams, have notably generated significant misunderstanding and reactions from Formula 1 teams, drivers and fans, an argument that is currently tarnishing the image of the Championship and the due celebration of the first Drivers’ World Championship title won by Max Verstappen and the eighth consecutive Constructors’ World Championship title won by Mercedes.
Following the presentation of a report regarding the sequence of events that took place following the incident on Lap 53 of the Grand Prix and in a constant drive for improvement, the FIA President proposed to the World Motor Sport Council that a detailed analysis and clarification exercise for the future with all relevant parties will now take place.
This matter will be discussed and addressed with all the teams and drivers to draw any lessons from this situation and clarity to be provided to the participants, media, and fans about the current regulations to preserve the competitive nature of our sport while ensuring the safety of the drivers and officials. It is not only Formula 1 that may benefit from this analysis, but also more generally all the other FIA circuit championships.
Following that presentation and an extensive discussion, the World Council has decided to unanimously support the President’s proposal.
The FIA will therefore do its utmost to have this in motion within the Formula 1 governance and will propose to the Formula 1 Commission to give a clear mandate for study and proposal to the Sporting Advisory Committee, with the support of Formula 1 drivers, so that any identified meaningful feedback and conclusions be made before the beginning of the 2022 season.
Keyword: Here's the Complete FIA Statement About the Mercedes-Red Bull Mess in Abu Dhabi