Mercedes have major concern as Lewis Hamilton waits for FIA investigation results

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Mercedes have been silent about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since Christmas because they do not want to be seen as ‘using the media to agitate’, according to reports. The Silver Arrows and star driver Lewis Hamilton are set to find out the results of the FIA’s investigation today. The governing body are looking at what went wrong in the Middle East as Max Verstappen claimed a first title of his career.

December’s race in Abu Dhabi was memorable – but for all the wrong reasons.

Hamilton was on course for yet another title, one that would have seen him move ahead of Michael Schumacher in the history books.

But a safety car allowed Verstappen to reign supreme instead, with the Dutchman exploiting the fact he’d changed tyres while Hamilton was still using the same rubber.

In the immediate aftermath of the race, Mercedes appealed the outcome.

Yet they then dropped that appeal because, according to the Telegraph, they claimed the only likely verdict would be backing Michael Masi, their race director.

While Toto Wolff has hit out at Masi for his take on the rules, the Silver Arrows have been silent on the matter since Christmas.

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And this, according to the publication, is because Mercedes do not want to be seen as ‘using the media to agitate’.

While they have this concern, however, they’ve also made their feelings on the matter abundantly clear.

Mercedes snubbed the governing body’s Prize Giving Gala in a decision that saw them criticised by Red Bull pair Verstappen and Christian Horner.

And Hamilton has been silent until recently, when he announced he was ‘back’ on social media.

Peter Bayer, the FIA’s secretary general of motor sport, has quizzed all those involved in the Abu Dhabi GP in recent weeks.

Mercedes and Hamilton, it’s suggested, want a ‘moral victory of sorts’ that acknowledges there was wrong-doing in the Middle East.

And what ultimately happens is something only time will tell.

The results will be published later on Monday but Verstappen, speaking recently, insisted he wasn’t concerned about potentially being stripped of his title.

“Yeah, but they can’t do anything,” he said.

When asked if his title was tarnished, the Red Bull star then added: “Not at all.

“I had a very good season and I think I really deserved it.

“I have been really unlucky as well. People always remember the last race but, if you look at the whole season, the championship should have been decided way earlier.”

Verstappen also insisted that he doesn’t feel much sympathy towards Hamilton given he’s won seven F1 titles in the past.

“For me, it’s difficult to picture myself in that situation, because I’m not a seven-time world champion,” he said.

“If I was already a seven-time World Champion, it hurts a bit less than when I am fighting for my first, leading all the way, controlling it all the way, and then losing it on the last lap – that would be way more painful than already having seven in the bag.

“Just look back on the seven you have. I don’t think it’s so bad, is it?”

Former F1 champion Mario Andretti, meanwhile, thinks Hamilton ‘can’t complain’ about the outcome of the race.

“You can never predict what will happen during a race,” he told PlanetF1.

“Nobody knew Latifi was going to crash, it’s that simple and so you have to be ready for those eventualities and sometimes you act properly, sometimes you wish you had done things differently.

“But that’s nothing different to what has happened in the sport before, you know – you can debate this until the cows come home.

“It’s fair, Max Verstappen earned what he got!

“Where Max did the overtake on the last lap, Lewis left the door right open.

“I think he could have protected that, but he underestimated how close Max was, quite honestly, in his mirrors, so Lewis can’t complain and everything happened the right way, in my opinion, considering the circumstances.”

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