19/11/2021
NEWS STORY
The FIA has denied Mercedes request for a right to review the Interlagos stewards decision not to investigate the incident involving Max Verstappen in last weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix.
Mercedes had requested the right to review after Formula One Management released onboard footage from Verstappen's car which had not been available to the stewards at the time of their original decision.
In order for the right to review being given approval, Mercedes had to show evidence that was new, significant and relevant that had not been previously available.
While the stewards accepted that the footage was indeed new and relevant, they did not deem it significant.
"The Stewards often must make a decision quickly and on a limited set of information," they said in a statement. "At the time of the decision, the Stewards felt they had sufficient information to make a decision, which subsequently broadly aligned with the immediate post-race comments of both drivers involved.
"Had they felt that the forward-facing camera video from Car 33 was crucial in order to take a decision, they would simply have placed the incident under investigation - to be investigated after the race - and rendered a decision after this video was available. They saw no need to do so.
"The Competitor's position is that this new Footage provides sufficient information for the Stewards to come to an altogether different conclusion than they did previously.
"However, the Stewards determine that the Footage shows nothing exceptional that is particularly different from the other angles that were available to them at the time, or that particularly changes their decision that was based on the originally available footage.
"Unlike the 2020 Austria case, in the judgement of the Stewards, there is nothing in the Footage that fundamentally changes the facts. Nor even, does this show anything that wasn't considered by the Stewards at the time.
"Thus, the Stewards determine that the Footage, here, is not "Significant"."
With timing of which Hollywood be proud, news of the decision came in the middle of the official FIA press conference, which, as it happens was being broadcast live by Sky Sports - the first time a team principals press conference has been broadcast live for a couple of years.
Check out our Friday gallery from Qatar, here.