During the safety car, Verstappen decided to go into the pits and put on soft tires. After leaving the pits, there were five cars between Hamilton and him (Norris, Alonso, Ocon, Leclerc and Vettel). The race directorate has decided not to let the rider back one wheel in front of the safety car to reach the starting field. But then only these five riders released the safety car. In addition, the safety car entered the pits right after.
The situation during the safety car is described in Article 48.12 of the Sporting Rules.
Mercedes has decided to protest against the violation of this article. In addition, he also lodged a protest against Verstappen for violating Article 48.8, which regulates conduct under the safety car. Before the restart, Verstappen got next to or even ahead of Hamilton in the 12th turn.
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20:07: The stewards stated that Article 15.3 allows the plant manager to control the use of the SC. During the end of the race, Article 48.12 was violated. Before the safety car, all riders should be released one lap back and, above all, the safety car should enter the pits one lap later. According to stewards, Article 48.13 takes precedence over this article, and as soon as the message “Safety car in this round” appears, it is the duty of the safety car to enter the pits.
Mercedes demanded that the results of the race be returned by one lap. “Stewards think it’s a de facto shortening of the race, so it’s not appropriate. The protest is therefore rejected. “
20:04: Confirmed! The second protest was also rejected. Max Verstappen is the Formula 1 World Champion.
20:00: According to Red Bull, Mercedes’ protest was not accepted.
19:58: Mercedes have left the Stewards. No comment….
19:46: Both teams are returning in front of the stewards. A decision will be made …
Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley off to see the stewards again to learn the outcome of the second Merc protest: pic.twitter.com/vrkRUQkQ7u
– Adam Cooper (@ adamcooperF1) December 12, 2021
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19:34: We are waiting for the result of the second protest.
19:18: The protest against Verstappen regarding overtaking behind the safety car was rejected by the sports commissioners.
Mercedes tried to protest that Verstappen overtook Hamilton in the 12th corner behind SC. The decision of the Stewards is expected. According to them, Verstappen got a moment ahead of Hamilton (at a time when they were both accelerating and braking), but then he returned behind him in front of the safety car line and was behind him at the time the race was restarted.
19:01: Christian Horner told Martin Brundle that nothing has been decided yet, but he expects a decision tonight. It is assumed that the defeated party will then appeal anyway.
18:59: Mercedes marched to the stewards and a lawyer. “We are a racing team. We didn’t come here with a lawyer. We did not come ready to protest, “said Red Bull.
18:38: The question is, what would happen if the stewards acknowledged Mercedes’ protest. In the case of Verstappen, there is a time penalty, but in our opinion there is a low probability of success. Similar maneuvers are common when warming up tires behind a safety car.
As for the complaint of letting only five riders back one lap, the stewards could perhaps just “cancel” the last lap and announce the results of the race according to the previous lap.
18:38: The stewards have rescheduled, but are now resuming. They have representatives of both Mercedes and Red Bull.
18:20: “I think it also describes this season a bit,” Verstappen said of the Mercedes protests.
18:18: Video from the last round
17:21: George Russell: “Max is an absolutely fantastic rider who has had an incredible season and I have nothing but great respect for him, but what has just happened is completely unacceptable. I can’t believe what we just saw. “
17:17“We are disappointed that there was a protest, but we believe in the FIA,” said Christian Horner.
17:16: This Wolff canceled the press conference. It looks like Mercedes will not comment until the stewards decide.
17:06: Onbord camera view and rules. Article 48.8 states that “no driver may overtake another car on the track, including the safety car, until he crosses the safer car line for the first time after the safety car returns to the pits.” 12th turn next to him.
16:49: We assume that the protests (there are two) Mercedes concern two things. The first is that only some cars were allowed to overtake the safety car. The second is the suspicion that Verstappen overtook Hamilton over the safety car line.
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