Red Bull will not appeal F1 stewards’ verdict on Hamilton

Red Bull has decided not to appeal the Formula 1 stewards’ verdicts after Lewis Hamilton escaped punishment for two incidents during final practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W12.
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W12.
© xpbimages.com

Hamilton avoided a grid penalty following an investigation into an alleged yellow flag infringement in FP3, while he received a reprimand for impeding Nikita Mazepin in the same session. 

Mercedes picked up a €25,000 fine for failing to inform Hamilton early enough that Haas driver Mazepin was approaching him in the flat-out, blind first sector.

The stewards’ decided to take no further action over the yellow flag incident after finding that the double-yellow flag warning on the marshalling system was accidentally activated at the light panel for “less than one second”. 

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 directly after qualifying, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said his side would review the situation and decide whether to take the matter further. 

"We'll have a good look at it,” Horner said. “It feels a little inconsistent with what we've seen two weeks ago, so we have the right to an appeal.

“We'll have a look at the information, we haven't looked at it that closely. These decisions are so late, the team management and the team have to focus on qualifying, so we'll have a look and see if there's anything that's untoward. 

“The one thing we desperately want is consistency.”

But the FIA has confirmed that Red Bull did not appeal the decision after its deadline passed. 

That comes despite Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko telling ServusTV that the team had lodged an appeal. 

Hamilton went on to claim pole position in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen crashed out on his final lap. 

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