F1 teams are told what the FIA will do after Verstappen's world title

The world title of Verstappen

After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, things were left unsettled for a long time. In the closing stages of the race, a crash from Nicholas Latifi caused a safety car and that brought the whole field together. Max Verstappen quickly went in for new soft tyres and came out just behind Lewis Hamilton, who was still driving on old hard tyres.

It gave a big advantage to Verstappen, but the track still had to be cleared in time. With a few laps to go Michael Masi came out with a unexpected message. The race would resume, but the lapped cars remained in place. As a result, there were several cars between Verstappen and Hamilton, which meant the Dutchman would likely never have had a chance to make another attack on the lead in one lap.

Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull's team manager, spoke to Masi over the radio and indicated that he should let some cars through and not leave them sandwiched in between the two title rivals. Masi took this advice and reversed his earlier decision. This happened to the great displeasure of Toto Wolff, who consequently lost the title with Hamilton on the last lap.

Protest from Mercedes

Afterwards Mercedes made a protest, but it was rejected. Mercedes threatened to take further steps, but eventually withdrew that decision. The FIA themselves played an important role in this, as they wanted to conduct a thorough investigation to avoid such a scenario in the future.

Although Mercedes withdrew their appeal, Lewis Hamilton disappeared from the face of the earth for a long time. According to Toto Wolff, he was very disappointed with the outcome of the season and seriously considered quitting Formula One. However, the Briton is listed in the announcement for Mercedes' car launch on 18 February, which removes all speculation about his future.

Results from the FIA

Still, Mercedes will eagerly await the results of the FIA. The investigation was completed some time ago and the FIA will present these during the F1 Commission on 14 February. The representatives of the teams will also be present and they will be able to give feedback on the plan. The FIA can then refine the solutions and present them to the World Motor Sport Council on 18 March.

Max Verstappen will not lose his title as a result of this research, but it is expected that there will be some changes to the structure of the race control. Michael Masi may be replaced, but that role will have to be more supported. In addition, there will be no more communication from the teams to the race committee.