After the dramatic Abu Dhabi Grand Prix scene, the Mercedes team, which lost the drivers' championship, appealed to the FIA FIA affairs officers for two controversial parts of the race, but both were rejected, which means that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is the official driver's world champion in the 2021 season and the first time in the Dutchman's career to be crowned world champion, let's take a look at the hearing process of Mercedes, Red Bull Racing and THE FIA.
Representative members of the Mercedes team:
‐ Ron Meadows (Athletic Director)
‐ Andrew Shovlin (Director of Track Engineering)
‐ Paul Harris (Team Legal Counsel)
Red Bull Racing Representative Members:
‐ Jonathan Wheatley (Athletic Director)
‐ Christian Horner (tour leader)
‐ Adrian Newey (Technical Director)
During the hearing, the parties made statements as follows:
Mercedes team proposes:
According to Article 48.12 of the FIA Sport Rules,... Any vehicle that is lappled by the leader must return to the overtaker and back to the overtaking safety car (.. any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car” ），... Once the last lap-in car returns to overtake the leader, the safety car will return to the pit at the end of the next lap. （... once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.” ）”
Mercedes argued that if this rule was followed, car Number 44 (Hamilton) would win the race. They therefore requested the officer to revise the ranking of the competition in accordance with Article 11.9.3.h of the FIA Sport Rules.
Red Bull Racing proposes:
"Any" in Article 48.12 of the Rules of Sport and stands for "All"
In Article 48.13 of the Rules of The Movement, "Safe Car Return to the Main Circle" means that the Safety Car will return to the maintenance area after the end of the Circle.
Thus, Article 48.13 of the Rules of Movement "covers" Article 48.12.
Article 15.3 of the Rules of Sport gives the Race Director the power to use safety cars.
Even if all the lapsed cars (8 cars in total, 5 of which are allowed to unwind) are unwinded, it will not change the outcome of the race.
Conclusion of the Tournament Director:
The race director said that the purpose of Article 48.12 of the Rules of Sport is to remove snare cars that would "interfere" with races between the front-runners, and in his opinion, Rule 48.13 applies to this situation.
原文：The Race Director stated that the purpose of Article 48.12 was to remove those lapped cars that would “interfere” in the racing between the leaders and that in his view Article 48.13 was the one that applied in this case.
The race director said all teams had previously agreed to end the race in a "green" state (i.e. with an unsafe car) where possible.
原文：The Race Director also stated that it had long been agreed by all the Teams that where possibleit was highly desirable for the race to end in a “green” condition (i.e. not under a Safety Car).
Having considered the various representations of the parties, the BaC decided as follows:
Section 15.3 of the Sports Rules allows the race director to control the use of safety vehicles, including decisions on deployment and withdrawal.
原文：That Article 15.3 allows the Race Director to control the use of the safety car, which in our determination includes its deployment and withdrawal.
Article 48.12 of the Rules of Sport may not be fully applied, but Article 48.13 can override Article 48.12, and once the message "Safe Car Returns to this Circle" is displayed, the Safety Car must return to the maintenance area at the end of the circle.
原文：That 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.
Although mercedes teams asked the race officers to remedy the problem by revising the race rankings, based on the penultimate lap rankings, the race officers felt that this step actually shortened the race time and therefore did not apply.
原文：That notwithstanding Mercedes’ request that the Stewards remediate the matter by amending the classification to reflect the positions at the end of the penultimate lap, this is a step that the Stewards believe is effectively shortening the race retrospectively, and hence not appropriate.
As a result, the appeal was dismissed and the appeal deposit was not refunded.
Pursuant to Article 15 of the Sport Rules and Chapter IV of the FIA Rules of Justice, entrants have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Arbitration Commission within a specified period of time.
