The fallout from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix looks set to rumble on, with the two Mercedes championship winning cars missing from the traditional ‘champions’ photoshoot ahead of the FIA prize giving gala in Paris.
Last weekend’s Abu Dhabi GP marked the final race of a super competitive Formula 1 season, with title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton going into the final event tied on points.
The car began with Hamilton taking the lead from second on the grid, demoting polesitter Verstappen to second. On the opening lap Verstappen then challenged for the lead, with Hamilton cutting across the corner to retain position.
The stewards deemed Verstappen had forced Hamilton wide and, with nowhere to go, was permitted to keep the lead but was ordered to hand back the time advantage he gained.
Hamilton then looked set to cruise to take the win and with that, his eighth championship. However with just a handful of laps remaining, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed, forcing a Safety Car.
Just as it looked like Hamilton would be guaranteed the win, the FIA’s Michael Masi ordered the Safety Car to pit with one lap remaining. Further to that, despite initially ordering lapped cars to remain in position, Masi quickly changed his mind, but only permitted those cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves.
With Verstappen now right behind Hamilton and on much fresher tyres, the Briton was a sitting duck on the final lap, with Verstappen easily passing to claim his maiden F1 title.
Understandably, Mercedes were furious with the decisions made by race control and submitted two protests – both of which were rejected. They then submitted an intention to appeal. They have until Thursday to confirm this, before it is automatically withdrawn.
Thursday also marks the FIA’s glamorous end-of-season awards ceremony in which champions are crowned, both Drivers’ and Constructors’.
Mercedes of course won a record eighth Constructors’ Championship this year and you would therefore expect the W12 to be included in the traditional prize giving gala photoshoot, it, however, is missing.
Although Mercedes are running cars in the Abu Dhabi test, they would have other cars from this season, or at least sporting this year’s livery, available.
Also missing is Mercedes’ championship-winning Formula E car, which claimed a maiden Formula E World Championship this season.
Questions must be asked as to whether Mercedes have chosen to boycott the gala given recent events. The team have been somewhat silent on social media, whilst no media sessions took place following the Abu Dhabi GP. Hamilton also skipped the official post-race press conference.
The cars featuring in the photoshoot include the World Endurance Championship-winning Toyota hypercar, the World Rally Championship-winning Toyota Yaris, World Rallycross Peugeot 208 and the highest class championship winning kart.
Best thing Mercedes can do for f1 is retire…, then everything will be clean and fair again.
Wow, utter rubbish
Half of the grid would be gone without merc. Let’s let red bull go shall we and see how much we miss them, there isn’t a single reason they need to be in the sport still they bring nothing at all to the sport.
Clean and fair? The only thing un fair is maxs dirty driving and horners wimpy whining on the radio every racing swaying the race directors decisions.
Bahahaha just like abu Dhabi in 2016 right!!!?? U know nothing about F1 crying wolf over a grub getting his dues for backing his own team mate up while a construt9rs w/c is on the line😆😆😆 red bull have taken numerous blows to the gut and Not ran to the Stewards unlike Mercedes.
What are you talking about? Constructors WC was wrapped up like 4-5 races before the finale and the drivers championship was all between Lewis & Nico. and Redbull have ran to the stewards to protest every chance they could, just like every other team in F1.
You’re wrong
You’re wrong
WOW Really!! So what you’re saying is that Red Bull are the only team that whine about stuff on the radio and they bring nothing to F1? Also that Max’s driving is dirty? I can only assume you’ve only been watching F1 for the last 5 years or so from those comments. Have a look back at Lewis’ driving in his first 8-10 years in the sport and you’ll see what a dirty driver looks like. Also the amount of money and exposure Red Bull bring into F1 through sponsorship, promotional days, young drivers academy and exhibition events etc more than most of the rest of the grid put together I think you’ll find. Now I’m not saying that they don’t make plenty for themselves either but I do know they the owner is a huge fan of the sport and does it for this reason. Red Bull could easily just sponsor other teams like they do in other racing categories and other sports and they would make just as much if not more money. I think you’ll find that Mercedes are there to make as much money as they can by selling engines to other teams and road cars to their fan boys. They do very little to promote F1 or bring money and young talent into the sport, unless that young talent is managed by Toto Wolfes company that is! Toto is also the biggest whinge their is or has ever been on the radio to the FIA. They have cheated all season long wether it’s by their flexible rear wing that suddenly vanished along with the scuff marks after
Red Bull brought it out into the open or by just throwing another new engine in the back of the car because theres now way we could beat anyone with an engine thats done more that 2-3 races. Come on 6 engines in one car and 5 in there other. It’s ridiculous! Not forgetting that both their drivers have been responsible for Red Bull not finishing races and putting Max in hospital, albeit for precautionary tests and scans. Lewis wiped out Max;’s engine and gear box at Silverstone and Bottas wiped out both Red Bull’s in one hit along with 3 other cars, Because what? he forgot how to drive? didn’t notice slowing cars? missed the breaking marker by 20 meters? I don’t know about you but I’m not buying any of those excuses. I Have been watching F1 for the last 38 years, since I was 6 years old, I’m not a particular fan of Red Bull but they do do a lot for the sport, they have always been just as good or bad as any other team in the paddock. Max is one of the best drivers I have ever seen and might just be better than Senna, and I do not say that lightly! I am a fan of F1 not any particular team, although if I was forced to pick one it would be McLaren. As a non biased fan of the sport I look at these things objectively, what happened on Sunday was purely the fault of Michael Massi and the stewards no one else! The rules have become far to flexible under Massi and this needs to change, the teams should not be able to lobby the race director during the race either. He has enough going on during a race without people shouting at him on the radio because they’re not happy that their team has been penalised or whatever. The rules should be the rules and that is an end to it, hard and fast decision making based on a set of rules all teams have agreed to. Also the track limits should be the white lines at every track as it used to be, otherwise why bother painting the bloody lines in the first place.
Dear Rudy, best thing is if you would just stop writing stupid comment. Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams are big name and this is why Formula 1 still exist. So, do us a favour…and close your computer.
Mercedes’ act is too childish. Even not brave enough to quit from Formula 1 and Formula E. For good, just quit. The loss F1 WDC came from mis strategic from the team, their pitting strategy on L14 was baseless, while tire was still in good condition and not pitting on 2 SC windows were also baseless. Lewis would grab WDC, even he started from P3 on final race. But the team didn’t believe it’s driver capability
Now that you have said your piece, put your dummy back in and go to sleep. There’s a good boy.
Just get Toto out…
All you guys are missing the obvious. Massi is a cheat. It’s endemic- remember their cricketers cheating. There’s your answer.
Masi’s horrible decisions destroyed the race, and made F1 look ridiculous to the world. Wasn’t a fair fight to the checkered flag at all. When accident occurred immediate red flag to clear course to allow clean up of Latifi, then cars come out in race order on equal tires. Let sprint to finish. That’s how it should have finished.
Bang on
I think Latifi is to blame for all those things that happened…he’s way out of points, and not even in top 15…how stupid for him to be racing as if he’s for the podium…and of course Masi’s decision at the last minute…if Mercedes will pull out of F1 just like the Ferrari’s threat…F1 will not be fun anymore…
Latifi is not to blame for Masi’s manipulation of the rules at RedBull’s request
Absolutely
Simple as that
My Simple as that referred to the comment from Cevert
Did you think of that within seconds of the crash happening while trying to co-ordinate multiple people to clear the track and talk to various F1 principals?
Hindsight is always perfect but, just as in most sports, the “referee” has to make a pretty much instant decision on the spot.
Whatever decision he took people would have complained especially as a sprint on equal tyres would almost certainly mean one of them going off track and being penalised and if it was Verstappen after Hamilton got away with it at the start you can imagine that we would still be heading for the FIA court.
Instead, Merc wasn’t performing to support best driver and best car. Following RBR to pit on L14 was a joke, as on medium tire was faster than RBR soft tire, and not pitting on any 2 SC Windows was Toto’s fault. Lewis would win championship, eventhough he started using medium tire on P2 even P3. This awful team had impacted Lewis three losses due to swing strategies on pitting
Watch every race then say that. He’s done nothing but give the audience and millions of fans a spectacular finish it’s called racing they raced on the penultimate lap. If lewis tyres were so shot then why not pit for a fresh set at the start of the safety car 😅 not every crash is red flaged a red flag occurs when it’s deemed not safe for Marshall or drivers to be on the track hence why u get a safety car or virtual safety car ffs .
At BEST, Masi’s decision looks naive and foolish, at worst it looks like he tried and succeeded in throwing the championship in Verstappen’s lap. Mercedes are a huge part of formula 1 and I can see the FIA regretting picking this particular fight.
All Mercedes is doing is making themselves look childish…motorsports has always had an element of luck involved…how unlucky was is that Max was smashed into the barriers at 51G with the FIA giving Ham a penalty, only for Ham to still win the race and take all of what could have been Max’ 25 points? There’s a give and take with Motorsport. Merc can dish it out but cannot take it, it seems
I hope Mercedes’ sue fia on the grounds they joined to play by certain rules that were not abided by by the fia itself! Outside of any appeal structure; (it is illegal to sell something that is not as it is described) it would be a fitting legacy for the most successful team in the last decade to leave and go to another championship where race officials do not give leg ups to lesser candidates on the day. Both Max and Lewis drove acceptionally throughout the season it should have been left to them to decide the title rather than a race official removing obstacles and making new rules
Racing incidents can result in bad luck but the race director manipulating the rules is nothing to do with luck. Masi has previously stated that safety car can only come in after ALL lapped cars have passed, so why was it different on Sunday? Why was Sainz not allowed to close up behind Max. Why was Riccardo not allowed to unlap and try to make up places after he pit for fresh tires. This error by Masi didn’t just impact one driver but half the field. Listen to the drivers radios at the time and it’s clear they were as confused as the rest of us.
When you are at the end of a season such as this, drivers neck and neck on points, a car in the barrier to clear, two deserving drivers who should be allowed to fight it out on track, team principals screaming down the phone at you and chaos all around you, the impacts of your decisions critical, the ONLY thing you can totally rely on to get it right is the BLOODY RULEBOOK!
Do you honestly think that Sainz would have challenged Verstappen? He’s an ex Red Bull driver still with strong links, the Ferrari is no match for the Red Bull and, as can be seen by the videos showing the various garages reactions to Verstappen taking the lead, I expect Ferrari would have wanted him to keep out of it as well.
Lets face it. Mercedes strategy left them massively exposed to a late safety car and the only chance they really had once they decide not to pit was to hope the race timed out.
That’s irrelevant, the fact that he wasn’t given the chance show manipulation by Masi at RedBull’s request “we need one lap”, Sainz is a racing driver, are you questioning his integrity? The only integrity to be questioned is Masi’s and the FIA’s.
Watch every race of the turbo hybrid era !!!!!! The dude got his own payback for some grubby moves he now deems ” dangerous ” whining idiots crying wolf over a crybaby team .Payback for backing up niko rosberg at the same track in 2016!!!!!!! Wtf backs up his own team mate trying to allow competition from other teams to fight them!!!!! The team have the biggest funds in the sport and constantly manipulate race directors into calls they want. Typical lewis hamilton fans!!! Put Max in lewis same car he’d destroy him !!! I do not like either of them to be honest.
There’s a huge difference between luck and manipulation
And if anyone should know, it would be Red Bull who experienced zero luck via corruption all year long.
All the talk of Mercedes sueing to win the championship seems to be exactly like Donald Trump sueing because the election was fraudulent. Personally, I thought it was the most exciting final in decades and I’m not a fan of either team.
At some point it’s time to accept the results and move on to next year. We don’t need every decision going to the courts.
The only thing wrong with your comment is that there was no evidence of election fraud. No one saw it..
In the event of Mercedes, the world saw it on live tv. How are you supposed to accept that?
Even experts have said Mercedes have a strong legal case against the FIA..
I don’t care whether or not the decision is over turned, all I care about is that the Stewards and Mesi have to be held accountable for what they did. Rules should be followed letter by letter and not partially ignore some of them to fit the narrative.
That moment ruined the entire season to be honest.
We can all live with disappointment! Try having England as your football team you’d get used to it! But this isn’t about Max winning, or Lewis being overtaken in a race and losing his 8th DWC. It is the manner in which the officials behaved and then defended their decisions! It has severely dimmed the lights on F1 as a sport, shown the incompetence and willingness to partake in foul play by the FIA and made a mockery of the 2021 season and all F1 fans worldwide. It was a very bad day and low point for auto sport and that is why people won’t accept the result!
Unless your lewis hamilton lol and Toto wolf!! They’d throw a baby to the slaughter to get lewis a win hence the 2016 final race in abu Dhabi!!🙃
Believe it or not Mercedes are doing the best they can without making themselves look bad. There’s nothing childish about at all. As for your element of luck, the last lap had absolutely nothing to do with luck. To make a decision like that and smear it with the word “luck” that is quite offensive.
The race director had full control of that decision. He knew exactly what he was doing. It had absolutely zero to do with luck.
“Tell us you don’t watch formula one without actually telling us you don’t watch it”
What a clueless statement from a blithering idiot if you followed formula one and saw the telemetry you’d know that was a 50/50 Lewis got penalised in the heat of the moment with how bad the outcome was.
If Lewis would’ve known how desperate crashtappen was at that point in the season he would’ve waited a other lap to overtake him.
Sadly luck had nothing to do with it. As stated by many, Michael Masi’s unique decision not to follow any of the clear FIA rules decided the outcome of this race and ultimately the championship! This was unfair to Lewis, Max & Sainz (who was prevented for challenging for 1st or 2nd). This is no reflection on Max, it was totally Masi’s fault! Masi did Max a disservice in that he might well won without Masi’s help; Masi tainted this championship for Max. I have followed F1 for over 30 years and what I am most sad about is that Masi has tainted the reputation of F1, hence, I have cancelled my sky subscription.
Take them all to court get that thief Masi from F1 forever he is not even good for go-karts. I will not follow F1 unless the Hammer sues their arse
F1 should be renamed F0 since there arn’t any of their own rules they will not bend or break. This seasons final race is going to be my final race after having been an F1 fan since Jim Clark.
I agree 100%. Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, and Graham Hill. My last F1 race too. I have decided to follow Indy Car. Not as sophisticated of a series, but seemingly on the up and up.
Lewis drove his car to the advantage he had Masi erase by giving Max’s an advantage let Max race bye the cars in front of him that’s like let him race all day then putting a behind him with fresh tyres
Masi is an impostor Race Director who made this rade result come down to a farce. The Ham haters think objective people think this was a fair decision. It was rigged . Hamilton dominated the race till Karen Horner called for a miracle and Mr Bean Masi delivered a blatant corrupt decisions.
Imagine Champions league final, Man C up 1-0 with 30sec left in xtra. Then Bayern awarded a suspicious penalty but instead of drawing the game the referee decides the penalty kick is worth 2 goals not one. Clearly breaking the rules. All you Ham haters can go get a refill of your psychotic meds, The Danish Pastry Boy ain’t win no title.
The decisions regarding unlapped cars and when the safety car ended was different to every other race in the sport’s history. It was fabricated by Masi to deliver nothing but entertainment and money from Netflix for Race to Petfection… Masi made an error – fact. No matter what we think of Max being a worthy champion (and he is), the Abu Dhabi race was fixed. They new Lewis on 45 old tyres vs Max on new sofas would go only one way…. shame on the sport, it is so wrong…..
The events over the last 5 laps were unacceptable and have put me off F1. A sport should be decided by performance and not the race director. Safety car with 5 laps to go should have end behind the safety car. This would have been fair and reflected Hamilton’s 11 sec
lead over Verstappen when the safety car was call out (just like every other race). Other than this if they really wanted a last lap why clear the path for Verstappen who had already benefited from a brand new set of Hard tyres under the previous virtual safety car, and again when this safety car emerged fitted a brand new set of softs. Add to this the Perez blocking Hamilton it seems everything was being done to advantage Verstappen and lewis was fighting everything.
You make it sound like Verstappen cheated by fitting new tyres twice. Mercedes had the option but chose not to which ultimately cost them. The 11 secs is neither here nor there. Hamilton had the oldest tyres of anyone on the lead lap, other cars with new tyres were getting punctures and he was coming up on a gaggled of lapped traffic that was battling. Anything could have happened at that point.
Lets not forget that Hamilton was only in front because he was allowed to keep that position after leaving the track to avoid being overtaken by Verstappen in a totally fair move.
As for Perez blocking that was totally legal as he was in front at the time and you’re naïve if you think Mercedes wouldn’t have done exactly the same with Bottas if the situation arose. It’s standard tactics in a team sport.
The stewards looked at that incident and deemed no advantage was gained, you shouldn’t be bringing that up here, it’s irrelevant. What is relevant is that Lewis could not pit under the safety car or he would’ve lost track advantage. All the lapped cars didn’t pass the safety car, there is no precedence in F1 to choose which cars unlap themselves, it’s ALL cars or none of them. The rules clearly state that the SC then comes in at the end of the following lap. The rules weren’t followed and Masi is clearly corrupt and/or incompetent AND the FIA are backing him. This is not good for F1 or anyone associated with it, sponsors, manufactures etc. The FIA needs to stand up and address this issue. Mercedes should never have to bring legal action to prove what Masi did was illegal.
All down to inconsistent application of the rules by the FIA. The teams and their drivers were just carrying out their day job and looking for any advantage they could gain. So leave the drivers and teams alone and focus on where the fault lay. A season of inconsistencies and poor decisions. It is only the FIA that need sorting out.
It was a race? And Masi said we going to race. Why end the last lap of the season under safety car??? We watch F1 for racing
dont we???
Not if you are a Mercedes fan, apparently. Then again, those creatures also cheer for a driver who supports racist terrorist organizations and accepts knighthoods from pedophiliac families, so can much more really be expected from them?
The bottom line is this: even without this race, Verstappen won more races than Hamilton, and without a bit of manipulation on the part of Mercedes throughout the season, Verstappen would have won even more races and won the championship even if Hamilton had won the final race.