17/12/2021
NEWS STORY
Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff believes that his team could have won its appeal had the hearing taken place in a conventional court as opposed to the FIA's International Court of Appeal and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
On Thursday, hours before the prize-giving gala, which, along with Lewis Hamilton, Wolff opted not to attend, F1 breathed a sigh of relief when Mercedes announced that it would not be appealing the Abu Dhabi stewards decision.
However, subsequently speaking to members of the media, the Austrian said that had the appeal been heard in a conventional court he is convinced his team would have won.
"We believe we had a very strong case if you look at it from the legal side," he said. "If it would have been judged in a regular court, it is almost guaranteed that we would have won.
"But the problem with the ICA is the way it's structured," he continued. "The FIA can't really mark their own homework," and there's a difference between being right and obtaining justice.
"I don't think that at the moment we are set up, in terms of our governance, to end up in a situation that would have given us a remedy that would have reinstalled the result that was taken away from Lewis before the last lap of the race," he claimed. "That's why, heavy-hearted, we decided not to appeal because we wouldn't have gotten the result back."
Wolff was keen to make clear that throughout, Hamilton was involved in the team's decisions and was fully supporting.
"Every step of the way it was joint decisions," said Wolff. "We decided together with Lewis to protest, to launch the appeal and to withdraw the appeal.
As you can imagine, not only for him but also for us as a team, it was terrible to be confronted with a decision that decided the outcome of the world championship. Nobody of us, neither him nor us, want to win a world championship in the courtroom. But it was tremendously hard for him and for us as a team to withdraw the appeal, because we were deeply wronged.
"It wasn't just a case of a bad call," he insisted, "it was freestyle reading of the rules and it left Lewis like a sitting duck. There is a lesson to be learned in how can we make sure that going forward, in situations like that, that the right decisions are being taken.
"The verdict from the stewards in response for regulations and judgment in the courts, whether it is the ICA or the CAS, which is not currently part of the legislations, can be judged in a way that is fair and neutral to every participant."
Other than Hamilton, Wolff says that throughout the process he had the full support of the team's partner and sponsors.
"They've been with us all the way along," he said. "The message that I have received personally from sponsors, from fans, from very credible people made me very happy. The sponsors have trusted us to come up with a decision in relation to the appeal and would have gone with us all the way."
Responding to the news that the FIA is setting up a commission to investigate the events of that evening, Wolff said, is anger slowly rising: "The decisions that have been taken in the last four minutes of this race have robbed Lewis Hamilton of a deserved world championship. Robbing him in the last lap of the race is unacceptable.
"We expect the commission to not only come up with words but with actions, and we will hold them accountable for the actions.
"We cannot continue in a sport that is meant to be sport followed by entertainment, and not the other way around, that we are held ransom by ad hoc decisions. There needs to be clear measures in place before the start of next season so that every driver, every team and the fans understand what's on and what is not on."
In terms of the man at the centre of the storm, race director, Michael Masi, Wolff said: "I am not interested in having a conversation with Michael Masi. Robbing Lewis in the last lap of the race is unacceptable.
"That's why from a personal standpoint, from a professional standpoint I cannot," he continued "My values and my sense of integrity just isn't compatible with the decisions that have been made on Sunday, so it is up to the FIA to decide going forward how these decisions, how these situations can be avoided."