F1: Mercedes denied right of review for Verstappen's defence of Hamilton in Brazilian GP

The FIA has denied Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team the right of review for the defence made by Max Verstappen against reigning F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, which forced both cars out of the track during last week’s Brazilian GP at Sao Paulo. Amidst the intense battle between Verstappen and Hamilton, the decision of FIA to deny Mercedes’ review comes as a big relief for Red Bull Racing Honda, as Verstappen currently leads the F1 2021 Drivers Championship battle by a margin of 14 points, with only three races to go in the season. Meanwhile, as the F1 action shifted from Brazil to the Qatar GP 2021, Mercedes’ review was denied as the race stewards decided that the new footages were relevant but not significant for any action to be taken.

As per Sky Sports, after the decision was announced on Friday, Mercedes boss Toto Wolf said that the decision was completely expected and they only wanted to trigger a conversation around the incident so that it doesn’t continue in the next races. He also stated that the team doesn’t think they need to go any further with their review appeal. At the same time, Red Bull boss Christian Horner expressed his opinion on the matter by saying the decision is the right one as it would have opened Pandora’s box with many incidents of the same capacity during the same race.

What happened between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton during the Brazilian GP?

During the main race in Brazil, Hamilton started the race from P10, as a result of the five-place grid penalty he received for taking a new engine component. Hamilton already had a great weekend after managing to finish P5 in the sprint race after starting from the last of the grid, and he found himself following race leader Verstappen on Lap 48 in Sunday’s main race. As Hamilton looked to pass the Red Bull around the outside at Turn 4, both drivers ran wide before rejoining with Verstappen’s Red Bull still in the lead. The incident was noted by the steward and thereafter concluded that no investigation was necessary. However, Hamilton passed Verstappen 11 laps later and went on to win the race and close the gap between him and Verstappen in the 2021 Drivers standings.

Image: AP