Mercedes to “Filed (his) intention to appeal” the rejection of his second protest against the result of the Abu Dhabi F1 GP, who crowned Max Verstappen (Red Bull) champion, announced a spokesperson for the team on Sunday.
This complaint was about how the safety car period ended at the very end of the GP.
According to the point of the F1 sporting regulations invoked by the German team, the restart of the race would have occurred one lap too early, on the 58th and last lap.
An “inappropriate” measure
But Verstappen overtook the Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) in this final loop, to clinch the victory and the title.
The commissioners considered that “Although the article (in question) may not have been fully applied “, The following article of the regulation “Won” by arranging the message “The safety car returns at the end of this lap” applies immediately when sent by the race director.
Mercedes was asking “That the marshals remedy the situation by modifying the classification to reflect the positions at the end of the penultimate lap”, add the commissioners in their decision. Corn “This is a measure which, according to (them), shortens the race in retrospect and is therefore not appropriate”.
“She was not in front”
In the first of its two claims, dismissed earlier in the evening, Mercedes criticized Verstappen for overtaking Hamilton behind the safety car period, which the regulations prohibit.
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In their decision, the commissioners considered that “Although car 33 (from Verstappen, editor’s note) moved at one point, for a very short time, slightly ahead of car 44 (from Hamilton, editor’s note), at a time when both cars were accelerating and braking , she came back behind car 44 and was not in front when the safety car period ended. “
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