Why Max Verstappen was allowed to overtake lapped cars at Abu Dhabi GP? F1 rules explained

F1 race control's decision to allow lapped cars to overtake at the Abu Dhabi GP resulted in a grandstand finish for the championship battle as title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were lined alongside each other for the last lap of the season finale.

As a result of this controversial decision, the Dutchman overtook the Brit on the final lap to claim his maiden F1 championship. Because of the manner in which Verstappen was crowned champion, questions have been raised about F1 rules. Here is a look at the regulations and why Verstappen was allowed to overtake lapped cars at the Abu Dhabi GP.

Why was Max Verstappen allowed to overtake lapped cars?

Race control's call to allow Max Verstappen to overtake five lapped cars prompted an investigation into Article 48.12 of the FIA regulations as Mercedes F1 protested the incident. As per Article 48.12, "any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car." However, Michael Masi, who is the race director, had only permitted five lapped cars to overtake - Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel.

Since the F1 rules state that 'any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car,' several netizens took to social media to point this out and slammed Masi for abusing his power.

Max Verstappen pips Lewis Hamilton to F1 title controversially

Although there have been several controversial incidents during the F1 2021 season between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, race control and the stewards have attempted their best to make fair decisions. However, the Abu Dhabi GP last-lap incident has left the sporting world divided.

Nicholas Latifi's crash on lap 53 of 58 gave race control a massive task to resume racing as soon as possible since this was the season finale. In Michael Masi's words, it would not have been fair for the world championship to be decided under a safety car. Even though racing did resume, their change of stance on the last lap resulted in significant controversy. Race control had first stated that lapped cars would be permitted to overtake but changed their decision a few seconds after to ensure racing resumed.

This gave Max Verstappen a fantastic opportunity to pit for fresher soft compound tyres under the safety car. As racing resumed on the last lap, the Dutchman was able to pass Lewis Hamilton with ease, who had been on old hard compound tyres for several laps. This incident has resulted in several fans slamming Masi and race control, as seen in the tweets above.