Please discuss rationally, my focus is on the fact that the terms in the rules of the movement are indeed inconsistent with the actual operating procedures. Neither driver had a problem, and the pot of controversy lay on the race.
Event grooming
On lap 53 of the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Latifi hit the wall at turn 14, triggering a safety car.
Almost at the same time as the safety car was dispatched at the same time, Hamilton drove right past laTifi's crash site, and before the safety car was dispatched, Verstappen was about 12 seconds behind Hamilton, and the loss of the next pit stop in the safety car was about 14 seconds, so at first Hamilton did not have enough safety windows to enter the station, so Mercedes did not choose to let Hamilton enter the station.
But Red Bull immediately called Verstappen to a soft tyre under the safe car and returned to the court on lap 54. Hamilton followed the safety car throughout lap 54, so the ride was slower. Verstappen drove at a slowing down in a safe car situation and soon followed the rest of the car formation behind Hamilton at the end of lap 54. So in fact, the second time Hamilton drove through the station entrance, there was no safety window to change the tires.
Led by a safety car, when the race reaches the halfway point of lap 56, the race will give the instruction: "The snared vehicle is not allowed to unwind" (this is also mentioned in the following rules). When the race reached the halfway point of lap 57, the race would give: "Norris, Alonso, O'Conn, Leclerc, Vettel can unwind the loop", and these five cars are the five ducted cars sandwiched between Verstappen and Hamilton.
Subsequently, in the third stage of lap 57, the race immediately announced the "safe car this lap pit stop" (this is also the biggest point of controversy after the race, see the relevant rules below for details).
Verstappen, who used the newer soft tyres, overtook Hamilton, who used the very old hard tyres, in the final lap of the race to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Relevant rules
For the relevant rules for the return of safety vehicles to the pit area and the unencing of the snare vehicle, please refer to the F1 Sport Regulation 2021 48.12 (this rule has existed for a long time).
48.12: When the track official deems the track safe, the information "the snare vehicle can be unset" will be given through the official information system, and any snared vehicle needs to be unset and returned to the same lap of the leading vehicle.
This only applies to vehicles that are snared at the end of the lap that crosses the first safety line for the second time after the safety vehicle is deployed.
After overtaking the leading lap of the car and the safety car, these lap vehicles need to circle the field at an appropriate speed, prohibit overtaking, and try to determine the position at the rear end of the car behind the safety car. When a laped vehicle is to overtake in order to unwind, in order to ensure that it can proceed safely, the car in the leading lap must always remain on the racing line, unless there is an unavoidable circumstance that requires him to deviate from the racing line.
Unless the track officer deems the safety car still necessary, once the last snare vehicle overtakes the leading vehicle for unwinding, the safety car will return to the pit area at the end of the next lap.
If the track officer deems the track condition unsuitable for overtaking, the teams will be instructed through the official information system to "no overtaking".
Post-match protests
Mercedes submitted 2 protests after the game
1. Protests against Movement Rule 48.8, mainly against Verstappen's alleged safe car to overtake, ultimately failed. But this article is actually not a big problem, so I won't repeat it here.
2. The protest against Movement Rule 48.12 ultimately failed, as detailed in the official document below.
Mercedes' defence:
Two sports rules (in Article 48.12) were not observed, namely "any snared vehicle must undo the car and safety car in the leading lap" and "Once the last snare car is unpacked, the safety car will return to the pit area at the end of the next lap." ”
Mercedes said Hamilton would win the race if that was followed. They therefore asked the tournament officers to revise the final results in accordance with Article 11.9.3.h of the FIA International Sports Code.
Red Bull's defence:
1. "Any" does not equate to "all".
2. Sport Rule 48.13 stipulates that "Safety Car Entry" refers to the signal that the Safety Vehicle will enter the maintenance area at the end of the Lap.
Therefore, 48.13 takes precedence over 48.12.
4. Sport Rule 15.3 gives the race director the "supreme right" to use a safety car.
5. Even if all the cars exceed the safety car (8 in total, 5 of which are allowed to unwind), this will not change the outcome of the race.
Basis of the Event Director:
The race director said the purpose of 48.12 was to clear snared vehicles that would interfere with the race between leading vehicles, and he believed 48.13 applied to this event.
The race director also said that all teams had long agreed that, where possible, the race would be best ended under "green flag" conditions (i.e. not under a safe car).
Conclusions of the Tournament Officer:
The tournament officer considered the protest admissible.
Sport Rule 15.3 allows the race director to control the use of safety vehicles, including the deployment and withdrawal of safety vehicles.
Although 48.12 may not be fully applicable, for safety vehicles returning to the pit area at the end of the next lap, 48.13 takes precedence over the previous rule, and once the message "Safe cars enter the pit stops in this circle" is displayed, the safety vehicles must be withdrawn at the end of this lap.
Although Mercedes asked the tournament officers to correct the problem by modifying the results of the race, that is, using the results of the penultimate round of the race. However, the tournament officer felt that this actually shortened the mileage of the race and was therefore not appropriate. In the end, the protest was dismissed. The protest deposit is non-refundable.
Latest follow-up
Mercedes team submitted notice of intention to appeal against the decision to arbitrate the race. We'll have to wait for the next 72 hours for a further decision on whether or not to follow up.