Dutch racer Max Verstappen won his first Formula One World Championship title on an eventful Sunday evening in Abu Dhabi, after protests from Mercedes on two counts were dismissed by the FIA stewards hours after the final race of the season.
This is the Dutch racer’s seventh season in F1 at the age of 24 and he became the first from his country to win the title.
"I'm so happy. Our goal was to win this championship when we came together and we have done that," said Verstappen after the dramatic race.
"My team know I love them. I hope we can do this for 10, 15 years together. I don't want to change ever. I want to stay with them for the rest of my life, if they will have me."
Verstappen saw off rival Lewis Hamilton on the final lap after the pair had started the race level on points. It was a straight head-to-head battle between the two champion drivers where Verstappen and Red Bull held their nerve on a dramatic evening, proving to have the edge at Yas Marina, leaving Hamilton and Mercedes fuming.
What Were the Complaints?
Mercedes lodged two protests with the FIA after the controversial end to the race, including one regarding the restart of the race with one lap remaining. Mercedes protested "against the classification established at the end of the Competition", relating to alleged breaches of Articles 48.8 and 48.12 of the FIA Sporting Regulations.
Verstappen overtook the seven-time champion Hamilton on the last lap to win the race and the title after Race Director Michael Masi had brought in the safety car. Mercedes claim that Masi had not applied the rules correctly and asked for the results to be altered.
The second protest was about Verstappen edging ahead of Hamilton a number of times on the lap before the restart.
Mercedes have lodged an intention to appeal against the decision relating to restarting the race at the start of the final lap.
Why Was There A Controversy?
The main reason for Mercedes’ unhappiness at the way things panned out on Sunday was due to the manner in which Masi handled the decision to restart the race at the start of the final lap.
Hamilton, who dominated for the major part, had looked the most likely to take that all-deciding win, enjoying a comfortable lead over Verstappen, when Nicholas Latifi crashed with five laps to go, triggering a Safety Car.
Red Bull called Verstappen into the pits and fitted him with soft tyres. Hamilton did not pit and remained on 38-lap-old hard tyres. The race resumed with one lap to go, with Verstappen holding a significant tyre advantage. He caught and passed the Mercedes driver to take victory.
After the safety-car period, lapped cars normally can un-lap themselves by passing the leader so they do not interfere with the race.
Masi allowed the drivers between Hamilton and Verstappen to pass them, giving Verstappen a clear run at his rival. But did not do the same to the cars between Verstappen and third-placed Carlos Sainz's Ferrari.
Article 48.12 of the rules state that, "If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message 'lapped cars may now overtake' has been sent to all competitors via the official messaging system, any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car."
Also, article 48.12 notes that "once the last lapped car has passed the leader, the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap". However, at the Yas Marina Circuit, the race was started at the end of the same lap.
Race Director Has Final Authority
According to Mercedes, if the rules had been put into play to the letter, Hamilton would have edged out the younger ace. However, the stewards noted that Masi has the authority of the safety car due to a rule on its deployment and withdrawal.
They said, "Although article 48.12 may not have been applied fully, in relation to the safety car returning to the pits at the end of the following lap, article 48.13 overrides that and once the message 'safety car in this lap' has been displayed, it is mandatory to withdraw the safety car at the end of that lap.”
The authorities on the night believed that Mercedes’ request would effectively lead to “shortening the race retrospectively, and hence not appropriate".
With regards to Verstappen overtaking Hamilton before the race had restarted, the stewards said, "Although Verstappen did at one stage, for a very short period of time, move slightly in front of Hamilton, at a time when both cars where accelerating and braking, it moved back behind and it was not in front when the Safety Car period ended."
(With inputs from IANS and BBC)
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