Mercedes has reportedly denied a deal with the FIA to fire Marcy

Mercedes dropped an appeal against the dispute in Abu Dhabi after the FIA agreed to replace two senior officials, but the team denied the claim, according to the BBC.

Mercedes believed that Marcy did not apply the rules correctly, and before the final lap of the race began, he allowed some (but not all) quilt covers to undo the whole car on their own, and then Hamilton, who led the race, was overtaken by Verstappen with the new soft tire, who won the race and won the championship. On match day, Mercedes protested twice, but before the appeal deadline, they announced they would not proceed with the appeal.

Now the BBC claims a "senior source" told them Mercedes "dropped the appeal against the outcome of the race after reaching a compensation agreement with the FIA".

They added that "the deal is said to be for Marcy and FIA single-seat technical affairs head Nicolas Tombazis who will no longer hold their role in the 2022 season".

Mercedes is said to have denied "reaching any such deal" and instead stuck to its original position that they abandoned the appeal after receiving assurances that the FIA would take the matter seriously and fully investigate the matter.

So far, the FIA's only response to the conclusion of its dissatisfaction with this exciting season has been the release of a statement the night before Mercedes announced they would not proceed with the appeal, "now with all parties involved in a detailed analysis and clarification of the future". Almost a month later, however, there was no more addition, and certainly no news about the future of Marcy and Tombazis.

The BBC's statement is part of broader coverage of Hamilton's future, whose future remains in doubt in F1, where he has not publicly expressed any opinion since a brief interview at Yas Marina Circuit, in which he said "Let's see again next year".