Mercedes drops appeal and congratulates Verstappen for F1 title

Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton's team, gave up plans to appeal the result of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this Thursday (16) and congratulated Max Verstappen for the Formula 1 world championship.

Red Bull's 24-year-old Verstappen won the title by overtaking seven-times champion Hamilton on the final lap of the race amid an uproar over the way a late safety car intervention was carried out.

The Dutchman is expected to receive the trophy at a gala in Paris on Thursday night.

Mercedes welcomed the decision of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), announced on Wednesday, to analyze what happened at the Yas Marina circuit and provide clarity in the future.

“We will hold the FIA accountable for this process and through this we withdraw our appeal,” said Mercedes.

Mercedes had announced its intention to appeal after two post-race protests were rejected. The deadline was Thursday night.

“We left Abu Dhabi not believing what we had just witnessed. Of course it's part of the game to lose a race, but it's something different when you lose faith in the sport,” Mercedes declared.

The safety car was deployed with five laps to go after Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams, forcing the stewards onto the track.

The race resumed with one lap to go after race director Michael Masi broke protocol that all stragglers must pass the safety car before the green flag is raised.

Instead, only cars that were positioned between Verstappen and Hamilton were allowed to cash in their late laps, which gave the Red Bull driver free lane to approach Hamilton and overtake him.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.