Mercedes lodge appeals after Max Verstappen seals world title
12th December 2021Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Mercedes lodge appeals after Max Verstappen seals world title
Mercedes have lodged two appeals to the FIA regarding the outcome of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which their championship rival; Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, secured his maiden world title.
What are Mercedes Protesting
Ultimately, Mercedes are protesting the race result, they believe the FIA decisions in the latter stages benefitted Verstappen – who went on to secure his maiden world drivers championship.
In detail, the Silver Arrows – dubbed the Black Arrows due to their recent liveries – believe the FIA and Verstappen breached two different Sporting Regulations; Article 48.12 and Article 48.8.
What is Article 48.12
Article 48.12 under the section regarding the race under safety car conditions. Specifically, it is a regulation regarding lapped cars being allowed to unlap themselves from behind the safety car.
The regulation states:
“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 via the official messaging system, any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.
“This will only apply to cars that were lapped at the time they crossed the Line at the end of the lap during which they crossed the first Safety Car line for the second time after the safety car was deployed.
“Having overtaken the cars on the lead lap and the safety car these cars should then proceed around the track at an appropriate speed, without overtaking, and make every effort to take up position at the back of the line of cars behind the safety car.
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“Whilst they are overtaking, and in order to ensure this may be carried out safely, the cars on the lead lap must always stay on the racing line unless deviating from it is unavoidable.
“Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.
“If the clerk of the course considers track conditions are unsuitable for overtaking the message “OVERTAKING WILL NOT BE PERMITTED” will be sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system.”
Initially, race control declared that no cars would be allowed to unlap themselves from behind the safety car.
However, on lap 57 of 58, race control changed their mind and allowed a selection of cars to unlap themselves – more noticeably, the ones between Lewis Hamilton (who was leading the race) and Verstappen.
After the lapped cars were let through, the safety car was instructed to return to the pits on the exact same lap. This decision breaches the sporting regulation as the safety car should have returned to the pit lane on the final lap, according to the regulation.
What is Article 48.8?
Article 48.8 remains under the same umbrella of ‘safety car.’
However, this regulation prohibits a driver from overtaking another driver under safety car conditions.
The regulation states:
“With the exception of the cases listed under a) to h) below, no driver may overtake another car on the track, including the safety car, until he passes the Line (see Article 5.3) for the first time after the safety car has returned to the pits.”
In the same safety car stint (lap 57), it was believed that Verstappen may have gotten a nose in ahead of Hamilton as the #44 Mercedes controlled the pack’s pace during the safety car restart.
However, this comes under a grey area.
It has been questioned: what is ‘overtaking’ under the safety car? Is it when a driver is out in front by an inch? or when a car is clearly ahead of the leading car?
If it is deemed that Verstappen had overtaken Hamilton prior to the restart, it could see the Dutch Red Bull being slapped with a post-race five-second penalty. This would then revoke Verstappen’s maiden world championship as the Dutchman would, ultimately, be pushed back to P2 and then the championship would go to Hamilton.
That’s it for the article: Mercedes lodge appeals after Max Verstappen seals world title! Do you think Max Verstappen should be punished for alleged overtaking under the safety car? Let us know in the comments!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.