MERCEDES URGE FIA TO PUNISH MAX
LEWIS HAMILTON’S Mercedes team upped the ante in the fractious fight for the Formula One world championship by writing to the FIA requesting that they reconsider their decision not to penalise Max Verstappen for his defensive driving at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Sportsmail has exclusively seen the submission sent by Mercedes’ sporting director Ron Meadows to Peter Bayer, the governing body’s secretary general. Although neither Mercedes nor the FIA wanted the correspondence to be seen, we can reveal the details of the team’s case, which challenges Verstappen escaping punishment for running Hamilton off the road during their titanic duel for the lead 48 laps into Sunday’s race. Hamilton won after later passing his Red Bull rival. But Mercedes are effectively suggesting that Verstappen should be retrospectively penalised. Every point is crucial with Hamilton trailing the Dutchman by 14 with three races left and 78 points up for grabs. Referring primarily to previously unseen on-board footage of the Turn 4 incident from Verstappen’s cockpit, Meadows writes: ‘In accordance with Article 14.1.1 of the International Sporting Code (“Right of Review”) Mercedes bring to the attention of the stewards “a significant and relevant new element... unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time”. In particular, Mercedes request that the stewards review the following but not limited to: i) forward facing on-board camera footage, and ii) 360-degree on-board camera footage, each recorded from the time of the incident. Mercedes believe that the (previously) unavailable footage is relevant because it shows the overall position of Car 33 (Verstappen’s) throughout the incident and it enables the steering inputs applied by the driver of Car 33 to be assessed relative to the position of Car 44 (Hamilton’s).’ The FIA must decide if the appeal is admissible, with the incident ‘noted’ at the time but not referred to the stewards. Mercedes are buoyed by race director Michael Masi saying that if new evidence emerged the matter would be re-examined. A five-second penalty would relegate Verstappen to third, cutting Hamilton’s deficit to 11 points. A grid penalty for this Sunday’s grand prix in Qatar is another possibility.