Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team revealed on Thursday that it withdrew its appeal regarding the outcome of last weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, thereby confirming Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's first Formula One title.
"The reason we protested the race result on Sunday was because the Safety Car regulations were applied in a new way that affected the race result, after [Mercedes driver] Lewis [Hamilton] had been in a commanding lead and on course to win the World Championship," the Mercedes team said in a statement.
The decision to drop the appeal came after the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) vowed to create a commission whose aim will be to analyze the events during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and "to improve the robustness of rules, governance and decision making" in the competition. "We will hold the FIA accountable for this process," Mercedes pointed out.
