Mercedes Says Verstappen Violated Car Safety Rules And Conducted Illegal Overtake

Lewis Hamilton (Instagram @lewishamilton)

JAKARTA - Mercedes protested on Sunday after Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and beat seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to claim the 2021 title.

Mercedes, securing the constructors' title for the eighth year in a row, protested over two alleged violations of sporting regulations when the safety car was ejected at the end of the race.

An official statement from the stewards said Mercedes protested "against the classification at the end of the competition", citing a violation of article 48.12.

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— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 12, 2021

Verstappen found a number of drivers in rear position between him and Hamilton after the pits when the safety car was ejected in the last four laps.

Race director Michael Masi decided that only the five back-seat cars between the two title-challenging drivers would be allowed to escape from the safety car, rather than all of the cars being overlapped as is normal procedure.

In their second protest, Mercedes also argued that article 48.8 was violated when Verstappen's car moved ahead of Hamilton's as he waited impatiently to continue racing on the final lap following the end of the safety car period.

Mercedes called it an illegal overtake.

Launching Antara, the Silver Arrow team made no further comments until their protest went up to trial.