Mercedes protest thrown down – Verstappen remains world champion
Annoying end to a famous Formula 1 season: Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff (left) and the replaced world champion Lewis Hamilton
Source: picture alliance / HOCH ZWEI
A controversial decision by the race management has a massive impact on the final result of the World Cup: Mercedes protests against Verstappen’s victory. But the rulers see no violation. The reaction of the German racing team follows immediately.
NAfter the controversial Formula 1 final in Abu Dhabi with the new world champion Max Verstappen, the stewards rejected both of Mercedes’s protests. The race stewards considered both objections to be permissible hours after the end of the race. However, there was no subsequent penalty for Verstappen or Red Bull.
The Dutchman continued to be rated as a race winner and also a world champion. However, Mercedes immediately announced that it would continue to take action against the stewards’ decision to protest the second time.
After the Grand Prix victory in Verstappen, the Silver Arrows complained about two alleged breaches of the rules in the last race of the year on Sunday. Both incidents related to the last safety car phase shortly before the end, when Verstappen was finally able to overtake Hamilton and become world champion for the first time.
Disputed decisions
The first protest related to the fact that Verstappen should have illegally overtaken Hamilton during the safety car phase.
The stewards also assessed the objection as admissible and agreed that the Dutchman is said to have been slightly ahead of the British for “a very short period of time”. At the end of the safety car phase, however, this no longer applied.
World champion at the age of 24: Max Verstappen
Quelle: Getty Images
In a second protest, Mercedes complained about the allegedly incorrect procedure during the last safety car phase.
In essence, it was about the fact that the safety car should have stayed outside longer – then the race behind the car of safety car driver Bernd Mayländer would have ended and Hamilton would have become world champion. Because overtaking is then no longer allowed. The stewards also rejected this protest.
So, more than four hours after the end of the race, Verstappen was finally able to celebrate his first title win in Abu Dhabi. There was also a lot going on in his home country.
Party in Montfort
The fact that the 24-year-old secured the world championship title in front of Hamilton in an exciting race to catch up brought Dutch sport “a historic day,” tweeted Prime Minister Mark Rutte. “Congratulations on this phenomenal achievement. Really fantastic!”
Hundreds of fans of the Dutch Formula 1 driver from Red Bull cheered in the Zaal Housmans restaurant in the southern Dutch city of Montfort when Verstappen crossed the finish line in front of Mercedes driver Hamilton, reported the ANP news agency.
The restaurant achieved fame in the Netherlands and nearby Belgium because Verstappen’s grandfather Frans had watched several races by grandson Max on television here until his death in 2019.
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