Formula 1: Verstappen champion but Mercedes appeal remains

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won his first Formula 1 title on Sunday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in a race marred with controversy, however Mercedes still intent to appeal the result after their protests were throw out.

The controversy resulted from decisions made by the race stewards and the race director, Michael Masi, in the final laps of the 58-lap race. The controversy started after Williams driver Nicholas Latifi crashed out of the race on lap 53, forcing out the safety car in the process, which remained out for the next 4 laps, with the order that lapped cars would not be allowed to un-lap themselves. However, with one lap left to go, Michael Masi ordered that the cars between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who was leading the race and the championship, be allowed to un-lap themselves, but only the cars between them, and not the lapped cars behind Verstappen. The problem with this is that Article 48.12 of the race regulation states that any car that has been lapped by the leader should be allowed to un-lap themselves, so the lapped cars behind Verstappen should have also been allowed to un-lap themselves but were not. Another problem is that the article 48.12 also states that once the last lapped car passes the leader, the safety care would be brought in at the end of the following lap, however the safety car was brought on the same lap instead. To complicate manners, article 48.13 states that once the message “Safety car in this lap” is displayed, the safety car must be brought in at the end of that lap, which was followed despite contradicting the previous regulation.

The result of these decisions allowed Verstappen to get behind and overtake Hamilton, who had been leading the race comfortably, and win both race and the title ahead of Hamilton, whereas if the rules had been followed correctly, then it is likely that Hamilton would have won both. Whilst Mercedes, Hamilton’s team, had their protests about the decisions thrown out, they have appealed this. It is possible that a final decision on the race and the championship could take months.