Lewis Hamilton ‘makes final decision’ over appeal with Thursday announcement expected

Max Verstappen prevails in world title shoot-out

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In the aftermath of Sunday’s controversial title decider in Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton has made his decision over lodging a potential appeal following Max Verstappen’s win, with an announcement expected.

There is still a sense of uncertainty over the outcome of this season’s F1 Championship following the controversial events that occurred on the final day in Abu Dhabi.

Despite a healthy 14 second lead, Lewis Hamilton was horrified as Nicholas Latifi’s crash shortened the pack and Max Verstappen ended up by his side with just a lap to go.

The late withdrawal of the safety car allowed Verstappen to pass him on newer tyres and claim the championship for the first time at Hamilton’s expense, but the racing world has been braced for a major appeal from Mercedes over the handling of the race.

And Hamilton appears to have made a final decision, with an announcement imminent.

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A win for Hamilton would have resulted in a record eight crown, making him the most successful F1 driver of all time, and this is one of the reasons that the Mercedes driver has told his time he does not wish to go down the legal route.

According to Sportsmail, Hamilton has said that he does not wish to win his record eight title in court, and now Mercedes will ditch any plans of a potential appeal.

Despite the wild celebrations from Verstappen, there was a chance that the decision could still be overturned, but Hamilton would rather win his eighth crown by merit and not via legal action.

Although extremely hurt and upset by Sunday’s proceedings, the report also states that Hamilton thinks that it’s in the best interest of the sport to leave the decision unchallenged.

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However, this is despite Mercedes’ lawyer, Paul Harris QC, believing that there is an overwhelming case to present for Hamilton, but shares his drivers reservations as to whether the FIA’s International Court of Appeal would ever contradict the decision their own body had made.

The FIA’s released a compromise statement following high-level talks between the heads of Harris’ team and the wider Mercedes Benz company, and FIA president Jean Todt and secretary general Peter Bayer.

The statement read: “The 2021 FIA F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has prompted a large number of reactions from the F1 community, as well as in the public,’ read the FIA statement.

“The circumstances surrounding the use of the safety car following the incident of driver Nicholas Latifi, and related communications between the FIA race direction team and the F1 teams, have notably generated significant misunderstanding and reactions from F1 teams, drivers and fans, an argument that is currently tarnishing the image of the championship.

“Following the presentation of a report regarding the sequence of events that took place following the incident on lap 53, and in a constant drive for improvement, the FIA president proposed to the World Motor Sport Council that a detailed analysis and clarification exercise for the future with all relevant parties will now take place.

“This will be discussed and addressed with all the teams and drivers to draw any lessons from this situation and clarity to be provided to the participants, media and fans about the regulations to preserve the competitive nature of our sport while ensuring the safety of the drivers.

“Following that presentation and an extensive discussion, the World Council has decided to unanimously support the president’s proposal.”

It looks like Hamilton will take this one on the chin, and use it as fuel for next season, when he looks to knock Verstappen off his newly found perch and claim his record eighth title.

His rival will be wearing a new number next season too, as Verstappen’s no.33 will be switched to no.1.

Following the events of Sunday’s Grand Prix and the bitter taste left in the mouths of Mercedes, it gears up for a fascinating challenge next season, with the pair expected to go toe-to-toe once again.

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