Mercedes and Toto Wolff vindicated over Lewis Hamilton appeal after court decision

The controversial ending to the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix continues to divide F1.

Mercedes’ decision to forgo an appeal in the wake of the contentious 2021 Formula One season finale appears to have been justified by a court ruling regarding a race in an International GT Open event. Lewis Hamilton was denied an unprecedented eighth world championship on a day that will never be forgotten in Formula One history due to an odd conclusion to the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which saw Max Verstappen emerge victorious.

When Nicolas Latifi, the driver for Williams, crashed into the pit wall in the latter stages of the race, the British driver appeared to be in control. Race director Michael Masi ordered the deployment of a safety car and declared that racing would not resume until every car had unlapped itself.

But after receiving pressure from Christian Horner, the head of Red Bull, he changed his mind and permitted one last exciting lap, during which Verstappen, running on new tires, duly passed Hamilton to take the checkered flag. Mercedes filed two protests right away, claiming Masi had broken the rules and that the Dutchman had passed Hamilton while using the safety car.

Following extensive discussion, a panel of FIA stewards rejected both arguments, and Toto Wolff and associates promptly exercised their right to appeal. Four days later, though, they abandoned that plan, even though the team had issued a statement reiterating that “the way things unfolded was not right.”

And now, it appears that the Silver Arrows—despite their reluctance—made the right decision. A similar dispute over the use of a safety car occurred at the September GT event in Spielberg, and the FIA’s International Court of Appeal (ICA) heard the case.

Following a yellow flag period, the restart happened out of order, and Team Motopark filed a protest requesting that the outcome be changed or thrown out. After that was turned down, the leaders of Motopark filed a case with a Spanish court, which duly overturned the stewards’ decision and nullified the outcome.

However, Optimum Motorsport, a different team, later appealed that ruling in the International Court of Appeal. The Spanish court’s ruling was overturned by the ICA, which supported the stewards’ initial ruling and correctly reinstated the race’s official outcome.

It was decided that it would be improper to overturn the outcome due to a mistake the race director had made. The ruling effectively rejects the idea that Mercedes might have succeeded in having the Yas Marina Circuit result reversed if they hadn’t given up on their appeal.

Before the 2022 Formula One season, an overhaul was nevertheless prompted by the incident. After being fired from his job in Abu Dhabi, Masi, an Australian, acknowledged that he had sought professional assistance due to the abuse he had received.

Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas took his place, and they have since taken turns holding the position. Herbie Blash was assigned to help them; he had previously worked for former race director Charlie Whiting.