LONDON: The controversial ending to the Formula 1 season and the title won in Abu Dhabi by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is tarnishing the sport’s image, motorsport’s world governing body FIA declared on Wednesday.
The FIA further stated that in order to “ensure the safety of everyone involved and the integrity of the sport”, it was setting in motion a process to put in place an acceptable solution before the beginning of the 2022 season.
Towards that end, “a detailed analysis and clarification exercise for the future” would be carried out, the FIA said.
“This matter will be discussed and addressed with all the teams and drivers to draw any lessons from this situation,” the statement added.
The FIA further added that it would “do its utmost to have this in motion within the Formula 1 governance and will propose to the Formula 1 Commission to give a clear mandate for study and proposal to the Sporting Advisory Committee, with the support of Formula 1 drivers, so that any identified meaningful feedback and conclusions be made before the beginning of the 2022 season”.
Mercedes withdraw appeal against Verstappen’s title win
The declaration by the FIA was followed up Thursday by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes team on Thursday announcing they were withdrawing their appeal against Verstappen’s victory in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen overtook the reigning world champion on the last lap on Sunday to clinch his first drivers’ title and deny his British rival a record eighth crown. The deployment of the safety car after a late crash at the Yas Marina Circuit had wiped out Hamilton’s seemingly unassailable lead and Verstappen had the advantage as he was using fresher tyres. The furious Mercedes team, which had an immediate double appeal dismissed by the stewards, then lodged an intention to appeal against that decision, which they were required to trigger by Thursday evening.
But Mercedes issued a lengthy statement announcing they were drawing a line under the issue.
The team said they had made the decision following “constructive dialogue” with the FIA over establishing clarity for future racing scenarios.
“We welcome the decision by the FIA to install a commission to thoroughly analyse what happened in Abu Dhabi and to improve the robustness of rules, governance and decision-making in Formula 1,” Mercedes said in a statement.
“We also welcome that they have invited the teams and drivers to take part.
“The Mercedes-AMG Petronas team will actively work with this commission to build a better Formula 1 – for every team and every fan who loves this sport as much as we do. We will hold the FIA accountable for this process and we hereby withdraw our appeal.”
Mercedes said they had initially appealed against the result in the interests of “sporting fairness”.
The team also offered congratulations to Verstappen and Red Bull, saying the F1 championship title fight had been “truly epic”.
“Though this drivers’ championship did not end the way we hoped, we could not be prouder of our team,” the statement added.
FIA World Motorport Council statement in full
On Sunday, another FIA F1 World Championship season of competitive excellence has concluded, and the credit goes to the participating drivers and teams. The FIA congratulates all of them for their performances in this year. It was a hard fight, and the best competition was displayed at each Grand Prix.
The world watched every race with great anticipation, knowing that in the end, there could only be one winner. In this respect, many praised Max Verstappen for his victory, and Lewis Hamilton for his remarkable performance and sportsmanship after the closing event of the season.
The 2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, has prompted a large number of reactions from the F1 community and from motor sport in general, as well as in the public.
The FIA’s primary responsibility at any event is to ensure the safety of everyone involved and the integrity of the sport.
The circumstances surrounding the use of the Safety Car following the incident of driver Nicholas Latifi, and the related communications between the FIA Race Direction team and the Formula 1 teams, have notably generated significant misunderstanding and reactions from Formula 1 teams, drivers and fans, an argument that is currently tarnishing the image of the Championship and the due celebration of the first Drivers’ World Championship title won by Max Verstappen and the eighth consecutive Constructors’ World Championship title won by Mercedes.
Following the presentation of a report regarding the sequence of events that took place following the incident on Lap 53 of the Grand Prix and in a constant drive for improvement, the FIA President proposed to the World Motor Sport Council that a detailed analysis and clarification exercise for the future with all relevant parties will now take place.
This matter will be discussed and addressed with all the teams and drivers to draw any lessons from this situation and clarity to be provided to the participants, media, and fans about the current regulations to preserve the competitive nature of our sport while ensuring the safety of the drivers and officials. It is not only Formula 1 that may benefit from this analysis, but also more generally all the other FIA circuit championships.
Following that presentation and an extensive discussion, the World Council has decided to unanimously support the President’s proposal.
The FIA will therefore do its utmost to have this in motion within the Formula 1 governance and will propose to the Formula 1 Commission to give a clear mandate for study and proposal to the Sporting Advisory Committee, with the support of Formula 1 drivers, so that any identified meaningful feedback and conclusions be made before the beginning of the 2022 season.
