FIA doesn’t need to release full Abu Dhabi F1 report - Verstappen

Reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen says the FIA doesn’t need to release its full report into the controversial events of last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Connor McDonagh

18 Mar 2022

Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing in the FIA Press Conference.
© xpbimages.com

The FIA is expected to reveal the details of its investigation into F1’s 2021 title decider on Saturday.

Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton on the final lap in Abu Dhabi after a late-race Safety Car period caused by Williams’ Nicholas Latifi.

Former race director Michael Masi’s decision to restart the race having only let a number of cars unlap themselves which contravened the FIA’s sporting regulations and led to widespread controversy after the race.

In response to what happened, F1’s governing body has already made a number of changes for this season which included the removal of Masi as race director and the introduction of a VAR-style system to aid the stewards at race weekends.

Speaking ahead of the first race of the 2022 F1 season in Bahrain, Verstappen doesn’t believe the FIA should disclose the full report.

“I don’t think we need a full report,” Verstappen said in the FIA press conference on Friday. “Every year it’s good to discuss about what happened and the year before what you can do better.

“That’s what teams do as well, right? You always analyse everything you do. We’ll find out. If things can be written down in an easier way or a way to understand it better, the wording, then for sure. But let’s see.”

Conversely, Hamilton thinks its important that F1 is “transparent” about how the events of Abu Dhabi occurred.

“I think that it’s important as a sport we are transparent,” Hamilton said when asked the same question as Verstappen.

“I had a good meeting with Mohammed [bin Sulayem] last night, who agreed that’s the direction we should take as a sport and so, looking forward to seeing it come out and for people to know that the sport is transparent and we are learning from what’s happened in the past and will make improvements moving forwards.”

Hamilton revealed that he was fined for missing the FIA's prize gala at the end of last year.

“There will be some sort of fine re: the gala,” Hamilton added. “But we’ve worked together to make sure that the money will be put towards youths from underprivileged backgrounds [to help] them get into motorsport engineering.”