Mercedes plans to appeal after FIA rejects Max Verstappen’s title protests – sport

The competition for the title of the 2021 season of Formula 1, conquered by the Dutch on the tracks Max VerstappenGive Red Bull, he still has a chance to rule in court. Sunday evening, after filing two protests against the last rounds of GP of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, both rejected before Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA, its acronym in French), a mercedes Confirm the intention to formally appeal the entity’s decisions to higher courts.

Now, Lewis Hamilton’s German team has three days to file a formal appeal to the ICA, the FIA’s supreme court, to challenge decisions made in the race. For Mercedes, Verstappen has surpassed the English Lewis Hamilton In the case of a safe car which, in turn, did not have the correct procedure with the latecomers. The team was crowned the World Builders Cup champion.

“We present our intention to appeal Document 58/Decision of Commissioners to dismiss the team’s protest,” a Mercedes spokesperson said. In their protest, the German team complained about the way the restart had been played after the safety car, sparked by the crash of Canadian Nicholas Latifi, of Williams, entered the final laps. Initially, the race director, Michael Massey, informed that the trailing cars between Verstappen and Hamilton would not be allowed to overtake the safety car. After questioning Red Bull, the direction of the race decided to change the decision.

Mercedes claimed that all latecomers must pass the safety car and not just the five mentioned in the direction of the race (English Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Monaco Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel). According to the FIA, the intent of sending the five cars beyond the safety car was to “remove those cars that could ‘interfere’ in the feud between the leaders”.

In addition, the agency maintains that there is a consensus among the teams that an effort should always be made so that races end with a green flag.