© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko says he can “understand” Lewis Hamilton’s “disappointment”, and adds that the withdrawal of the appeal was “a grand gesture by Mercedes”.
After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Mercedes announced they intend to launch an appeal regarding the controversial ending of the race that saw race director Michael Masi break Safety Car rules and protocols and practically gift Max Verstappen the race win and the world title.
After the announcement Mercedes was silent until Thursday when they announced they have decided to withdraw the appeal. Red Bull’s Dr. Helmut Marko said the withdrawal was a “grand gesture”.
“I can only say that this was a grand gesture by Mercedes,” Marko told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Hamilton has definitely been unlucky, but so were we at Silverstone, in Budapest and in Baku. This is how races can go, but I understand the disappointment.”
Marko added that Michael Masi should not be completely blamed for the situation, but provided with some help in the future.
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“The new FIA president will have to come up with a new system that will help Masi, because he can’t do it alone. At the moment there is too much pressure on his shoulders.
“I think, for example, that team managers and team bosses should no longer be able to speak to Masi through a direct line during a race.
“In addition, the rules need to be simplified. Too many decisions have been made that have displeased either us or Mercedes.
“There needs to be more uniformity in the judgements,” the Austrian concluded.
As I sidenote, although Red Bull, the FIA and Formula 1 are pushing the narrative that what happened in Abu Dhabi was just down to luck, in reality it wasn’t. It was an obvious case of the race director not following the rules and benefiting one driver over another.
