Thursday, December 16, 2021
Mercedes waives the appeal
Max Verstappen is really world champion now.
On Sunday, Max Verstappen not only won the Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi in a spectacular race, but also his first World Championship. But two protests by the Mercedes team call this into question. Four days later, the racing team withdraws its appointment. Verstappen can no longer take the title.
Mercedes will no longer contest Max Verstappen’s first world championship title in Formula 1. The German factory racing team has decided not to go to the appeals court of the International Automobile Association. This was announced by the team led by Lewis Hamilton, who was beaten in the last lap at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “We are hereby withdrawing our appeal,” said the extensive Mercedes announcement.
Immediately after Red Bull driver Verstappen’s triumph over Hamilton, the Silver Arrows had filed two protests at the Yas Marina Circuit. Both had been thrown out by the race stewards. As a result, the team had submitted a letter of intent for an appointment in accordance with the formal requirements and had 96 hours to actually take this step.
The protests on the evening of the race focused on the one hand on the behavior of Verstappen in the crucial safety car phase and on the other hand on instructions from race director Michael Masi. Verstappen had benefited from the measures so much that he had the chance to overtake Hamilton on the last lap and took it to his first title at the age of 24.
“Although the drivers’ world championship did not come to the end we wanted, we would like to conclude by saying that we couldn’t be more proud of our team,” said Mercedes and added to Hamilton: “Lewis, you are the one greatest racing driver in the history of Formula 1 and you’ve blown your heart out every single lap of this incredible season. You are an impeccable sportsman and a role model for millions of people all over the world. We take our hats off to you. “