Mercedes F1 Protest of Red Bull Rejected; Red Bull Considers New Protest of Its Own

• Mercedes had issues with Max Verstappen’s conduct during a passing attempt in his battle with Lewis Hamilton at Interlagos.

• A virtual hearing was held on Thursday, and almost 24 hours later a verdict was finally delivered: Mercedes’ Right of Review was rejected.

• Red Bull boss Christian Horner on Friday suggested a new protest over Mercedes' DRS system could be just around the corner.

At last, as Formula 1 teams and officials prepare for the inaugural F1 Qatar Grand Prix, the outcome from the previous round in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been settled.

Mercedes had issues with Max Verstappen’s conduct during his battle with Lewis Hamilton at Interlagos Circuit in Brazil when both drivers went wide at turn 4 midway through the race. The incident was noted but not investigated by stewards at the time.

Mercedes earlier this week lodged a Right of Review, as permissible under the FIA’s International Sporting Code, when front-facing onboard footage from Verstappen’s car was made available, having not been broadcasting live at the time of the incident.

A virtual hearing was held on Thursday, and almost 24 hours later a verdict was finally delivered: Mercedes’ Right of Review was rejected. Stewards deemed that while the front-facing onboard footage from Verstappen’s car was new and relevant, it did not meet the threshold to be considered significant.

Stewards outlined that “had they felt the forward-facing camera was crucial in order to take a decision they would have placed the incident under investigation and rendered a decision after this video was available—they saw no need to do so.”

Mercedes argued that the new footage provided sufficient information for stewards to come to an altogether different conclusion than they previously did. But the stewards argued that the new footage “shows nothing exceptional that is particularly different from the other angles available at the time.”

Therefore the footage was not deemed significant enough for Mercedes’ Right of Review to be granted. The decision was not on the merits of the incident itself but whether the new footage would have meant the incident should be reviewed.