Christian Horner claimed that Max Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which was the Formula One World Champion. This decision was made against him.
Red Bull driver Lewis Hamilton was defeated by Red Bull in the last stages at Yas Marina Circuit. The Red Bull driver was helped by a safety car, which kept the race pack together.
Hamilton seemed to be charging for glory and held Verstappen in check for the final laps. However, a crash between the Williams of Nicholas Latifi and Hamilton changed the course of the events.
Christian Horner said Mercedes made a mistake by appealing to the court.
There was confusion as Michael Masi (under-fire race director) decided that lapped cars could pass the safety vehicle. This meant Verstappen took Hamilton out of the race on the final lap, and with faster tyres.
After crossing the line, the Dutchman was overcome with emotion and sat by his car to express his gratitude.
Mercedes launched immediately two appeals to the outcome, one against Verstappen because he allegedly drove under a safety vehicle and another against Verstappen because he allegedly took over after a safety period.
After spending hours together in the office of the stewards, both teams were disqualified. Verstappen was able to celebrate his victory over the other team four hours later. Mercedes however decided to appeal the decision.
Red Bull’s principal Horner said that he did not understand Mercedes’s decision to allow their appeals to be launched. He had a lawyer present during the hearing.
Max Verstappen swept past Lewis Hamilton, the title rival in the final stages
We didn’t intend to finish up in front the stewards. It was clear that there had been a lot discussion before the race.
“As it turned, it was evidently very different after race. So we don’t go racing in barristers or so – it was unfortunate it ended there. But the stewards made it right.
“We talked about letting them run, Niki Lauda is the one who did it hard, and while we have always spoken about finishing races under safety cars, we all agreed that the race director was right and strategically we were able to do it.
They can appeal if they so choose. They will be challenged in appeal court, and in legal court if necessary.
Horner said that Horner was also open to admitting it was an unusual day for Hamilton, who seemed to be on his way to winning the title.
He said, “It was an emotionally rollercoaster.”
Toto Wolff, principal of Mercedes Team was furious at Michael Masi from the FIA over team radio.
“It began with a poor start. Lewis made a strong start. They had more speed than we today.
“They chose to do the one-stop. We then went on to the two-stop. When Latifi died, we decided to get another set of tires.
They restarted and Max was determined to win the race. Max only had one lap and did it well. The elation was evident at that point. But then, the summons begin to come in for safety cars and other stuff.
“It was a stressful couple of hours, but hats off the FIA stewards for making the right decision today.