Mercedes withdraw appeal over controversial finish to the Formula 1 season with Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi
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Updated 16/12/2021 at 12:00 GMT
"We appealed in the interest of sporting fairness, and we have since been in a constructive dialogue with the FIA and Formula 1 to create clarity for the future," Mercedes wrote in a statement. "We welcome the decision by the FIA to install a commission to thoroughly analyse what happened in Abu Dhabi."
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Mercedes have withdrawn their appeal over the controversial finish to the Formula 1 season, which saw their driver Lewis Hamilton miss out on the championship title to Red Bull rival Max Verstappen.
Despite leading the race in Abu Dhabi by 11 seconds with four laps remaining, Hamilton was denied following a crash and the decision by race control to allow lapped cars between him and Verstappen to overtake, handing the Dutchman the initiative.
Following the race, Mercedes lodged an appeal which was dismissed by stewards but decided to lodge a further appeal in the aftermath.
However, in a statement released by the team, Mercedes have said they will not be taking the matter further.
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"The reason we protested the race result on Sunday was because the Safety Car regulations were applied in a new way that affected the race result, after Lewis had been in a commanding lead and on course to win the World Championship," they wrote in a statement.
"We appealed in the interest of sporting fairness, and we have since been in a constructive dialogue with the FIA and Formula 1 to create clarity for the future, so that all competitors know the rules under which they are racing, and how they will be enforced.
"Thus, 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. 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."
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The announcement comes on the day that Susie Wolff – who is CEO of Venturi racing and wife of Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff – hit out at the way Hamilton was denied a historic win.
"Going in to this final race weekend, I believed both teams and both drivers deserved to win. It was going to be a spectacle, an historic race that we all hoped would end without controversy. That wasn’t to be," she said in a post on Twitter.
"What happened is still hard to comprehend, and leaves me with a sick feeling. Not the losing – and not Max or Red Bull – they are deserving winners and we always knew it was a strong possibility we may not win.
The way in which Lewis was robbed has left me in utter disbelief.
“The decision of one person within the governing body, who applied a rule in a way which has never been done before in F1, single-handedly decided the F1 Driver World Championship," she said.
"Rules are rules, they can’t be changed on a whim by one individual at the end of a race."
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