Chapter finally closed. While Formula One is very ready to open the doors to the new season, 2022, with the Bahrain Grand Prix, the FIA's official statement on the Abu Dhabi issue has arrived.
The controversy
Let's be clear for a moment. Let's go back three months: Yas Marina, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the last race of the season. Verstappen and Hamilton are fighting for the world title: with five laps to go, the Englishman is first (and world champion) ahead of Verstappen. An accident by Latifi led to the Safety Car entering the track which then abandoned the track (obviously on Masi's indication) with one lap to go, allowing Verstappen, on new red tyres, to overtake Hamilton and become world champion.
The beginning of the investigation
Many discussions arose on the subject, which led the FIA to conduct an investigation, analyzing and listening to all the protagonists of that event. Two months of study that led to these results, reported by the FIA press release:
"The safety car procedure was a central topic of the analysis and clarifications emerged by applying articles 48.12 and 48.13 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations. The race director called the safety car into the pit lane without it completing an extra lap as required by the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations (article 48.12). The analysis showed that there could be different interpretations of articles 48.12 and 48.13 of the regulation and this probably contributed to the application of that procedure. It was also considered that the decision regarding the use of the safety car at the end of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP probably took into account the discussions that had previously taken place regarding the preference of the interested parties (FIA, Formula 1, teams and drivers) to end the races under green flag conditions rather than the safety car, taking into account the safety conditions".
“Verstappen remains champion”
Michael Masi was wrong. His mistakes were made in good faith, but there's little they can do for Mercedes. The result cannot change, Verstappen remains champion: “In light of this will applied for the full 2021 season, the report believes that the race director acted in good faith and to the best of his knowledge, given the difficult circumstances, also considering the significant time constraints for decisions to be take and the immense pressure of the teams. The results of the Abu Dhabi GP 2021 and the FIA Formula 1 World Championship are valid, final and no longer changeable. In accordance with the rules, Mercedes made a complaint to the marshals after the race and this was rejected. Mercedes had the opportunity to proceed to the FIA's International Court of Appeal but did not. There are no other mechanisms available to change the race classification."
Talk to technology
Masi's decision to allow only a few cars under the safety car to be able to split up also caused a lot of discussion. Also on this issue, the FIA announced: “The process of identifying lapped cars has so far been carried out manually and human error has led to the conclusion that not all lapped single-seaters could return to the leader's lap. Given that manual interventions generally involve a greater risk of human error, a software has been developed which from now on will automate communication relating to single-seaters which can split in two. Furthermore, the sporting regulations of Formula 1 2022 have been updated to clarify how "all" and not "some" of the cars are authorized to double. This dubbed car identification process has been revised following the recommendations announced by the FIA President on 17 February 2022 which also include the creation of the FIA Remote Operations Centre, the integration of a new team to manage trackside operations, as well as a review of the interactions between the teams and Race Control during the race”.
