Mercedes have ‘good legal basis’ to appeal against F1 title result, lawyer claims

Mercedes have a “good legal basis” to appeal the Formula 1 title race result which saw Max Verstappen steal the win in the last lap.

Lewis Hamilton was leading for the majoirty of the race and when Nicholas Latifi crashed which caused a safety car to pull out onto the track. After the debris was cleared, race director Michael Masi allowed five cars to unlap themselves which saw Verstappen overtake Hamilton and win the championship.

Toto Wolff’s team lodged protests after the race was over but they were dismissed and Mercedes have until Thursday to launch an official appeal, which could be successful according to lawyer Nicholas Bamber.

“This interpretation seems – on its face – to be inconsistent with a plain language view of the regulations,” he told Race News.

“It also directly contradicts Michael Masi’s approach in similar circumstances at the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix where he stated ‘There is a requirement in the sporting regulations to wave all the lapped cars past’ before the safety car returns to the pit lane and the race recommences ‘therefore the safety car period was a bit longer than what we would have normally wanted’ – i.e. the race director cannot overrule the appropriate application of the regulations, including the full application of article 48.12.

“Article 1.1.1 of the 2021 FIA International Sporting Code makes clear that the regulations are to be enforced ‘based on the fundamental principles of safety and sporting fairness’ [emphasis added].

“Part of sporting fairness revolves around consistency of application of the rules of the sport. As such, there appears to be a good legal basis upon which Mercedes could seek to appeal.”