“The circumstances surrounding the use of the Safety Car following the incident of driver Nicholas Latifi, and the related communications between the FIA Race Direction team and the Formula 1 teams, have notably generated significant misunderstanding and reactions from Formula 1 teams, drivers and fans, an argument that is currently tarnishing the image of the Championship and the due celebration of the first Drivers’ World Championship title won by Max Verstappen and the eighth consecutive Constructors’ World Championship title won by Mercedes,” the statement said.
The controversy came at the end of a testy season. As Hamilton approached Verstappen’s championship lead late in the season, ultimately tying him on points by winning at the penultimate race of the season at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, tension between the two drivers and their teams started to be aired publicly. Hamilton’s fury at what he perceived to be dangerous driving by his challenger aired on the team’s in-race radio. Still, Verstappen said, both Hamilton and the Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, congratulated him on his title victory.
“You should be accepting a loss no matter how much it hurts,” Verstappen said. Hamilton and Mercedes have not said much since the race ended Sunday. Hamilton was conspicuously absent from post-season testing on Tuesday at the same Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, where he was denied victory.
The intervention of Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, may have played a key role in convincing the race director, Michael Masi, to deviate from normal practice, allowing Verstappen the final-lap opportunity he took to pass Hamilton. In a radio transmission aired during the race, Horner could be heard asking Masi to allow racing to restart and not end behind the safety car, which would have guaranteed victory for Hamilton.