(Paris) Mercedes withdrew its appeal on Thursday against the controversial conditions of the coronation of Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who became F1 world champion in front of Briton Lewis Hamilton on Sunday, but the team still feels “aggrieved”, according to his boss Toto Wolff.
The Dutchman will therefore be able to install without fear at home the trophy which should be awarded to him at the awards gala of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) Thursday evening in Paris.
Neither Hamilton, second in the drivers ‘standings, nor Wolff, constructors’ champion with Mercedes, will be there to see him, both having decided not to attend the ceremony.
“In front of a normal court, we would be almost certain to win, but the problem with the International Court of Appeal, it is that the FIA cannot mark its own work”, justified the Austrian boss of Mercedes during a virtual press conference.
Wolff nevertheless welcomed the initiative of the governing body of motorsport to open an investigation into the events which led to the victory and the coronation of Verstappen at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
He is waiting “not just words, but actions” and “measures before the start of next season” to prevent such a situation from happening again.
“Sport must take precedence over entertainment”, hammered the leader, who denounces a “series of inconsistent decisions” on the part of the management and the race marshals who “caused unnecessary controversy” and “polarized” throughout the season.
Hamilton “disillusioned”
Asked about the state of mind of his star pilot, who has not spoken since Sunday, the Austrian did not hide that he was “disillusioned”. However, he wants to believe that Hamilton “will see in his heart that he must continue (in F1, Editor’s note) because he is at the top of his form, but that he will have to overcome the pain because he is a man with strong values. ”
The appeal withdrawn by Mercedes concerned the rejection of one of two claims it filed immediately after the GP, which Verstappen won ahead of Hamilton thanks to a controversial choice by the clerk of the course.
The victory, synonymous with coronation because the two pilots were on equal points before this last round, seemed promised to the seven-time British world champion until the accident of Nicholas Latifi six laps from the finish.
The time to free the Williams from the Canadian, the race was neutralized behind the safety car. This is how this neutralization ended at the very end of the GP that the German manufacturer contested.
According to the point of the F1 sporting regulations that he invoked, the restart would have occurred one lap too early, before the 58e and last loop. But Verstappen overtook Hamilton on this final lap, to clinch victory and his first title.
Without this, the GP would have ended behind the safety car, without the possibility of overtaking, and the Mercedes driver would have been the winner and champion.
In their decision to reject this protest, the race marshals considered that “although the article (in question) may not have been fully applied”, the following article of the rules “prevailed” by providing that the message “The safety car returns at the end of this lap” applies immediately when it is sent by the race director.
Mercedes demanded that the classification be changed “to reflect the positions at the end of the penultimate lap”. But “this is (is) a measure which, according to the commissioners, shortens the race in retrospect and is therefore not appropriate”.