Max Verstappen won his maiden F1 World Championship title on Sunday.© AFP
Mercedes have lodged two appeals over Max Verstappen’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix win over Lewis Hamilton on Sunday. Mercedes are contesting safety car procedure which resulted in Verstappen overtaking Hamilton on a frantic final lap to clinch the world championship. “Mercedes have protested ‘against the classification established at the end of the Competition’, relating to alleged breaches of Articles 48.8 and 48.12 of the FIA Sporting Regulations,” Formula One tweeted. Hamilton had been coasting to victory, his eighth world title seemingly in the bag.
Four laps from the end, however, Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams, bringing out the safety car and prompting Verstappen to pit for fresh tyres.
When racing resumed for the 58th and closing lap Verstappen barged past Hamilton to take the chequered flag and the title.
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