Stewards defend race director Michael Masi’s decision as FIA dismisses both appeals made by Mercedes to strip Max Verstappen from the championship.
Max Verstappen won the championship in Abu Dhabi in a very controversial manner. FIA director Michael Masi made unusual calls with the safety car, forcing Mercedes to lodge two complaints.
Moreover, Mercedes even reportedly brought their counsel to the track. And later, Red Bull’s counsel also apparently reached into the dispute.
While the accusation of Verstappen overtaking Lewis Hamilton under a safety car was rejected. Later, the stewards also rejected the second plea of allowing five cars between Verstappen and Hamilton to reduce their lap disadvantage.
According to the journalist Chris Medland, “The stewards say the race director is allowed to control the use of the Safety Car, and taking the results from the penultimate lap (as Mercedes requested) “is effectively shortening the race. Retrospectively, and hence not appropriate.”
With this update, the Silver Arrows are likely to knock on the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) door. Thus, we can expect more drama for a few more months.
FIA and unprecedented calls
Nevertheless, FIA has been massively scrutinized by the fans and experts for their inconsistent calls. Moreover, setting new precedents later doesn’t repeat in different races.
So, what will be FIA doing to evolve itself not to repeat such chaotic conclusions remains to be seen. Meanwhile, some F1 journalist claims that Mercedes would never succeed with their pleas.
Because, usually successful appeals are based on rulebooks, but over here, it’s Mercedes against FIA’s words. So, maybe the Silver Arrows are rowing in waters far from land.
