2021 - Race 22 Abu Dhabi

[Nitrodaze]

No he didn't have to leave space as he was ahead and owned the corner in both incidents, so no, not inconsistent.

Mercedes have lodged two appeals and I think they have a case especially around the unlapping procedure.

The other problem of the decision is that they effectively unfairly reordered the positions that those cars that overtook as instructed, at the finish of the race. As they would now end up behind the tail end of the grid when they cross the finish line and losing effectively up to three positions. Which would put the racing director in a situation where he would need to determine the order of the finish not based on how the cars cross the finish line which is the way the regulations say classification for points allocation is determined. But by amending the classification based on his orders.

So the likes of Norris, Alonso, Leclerc, Ocon and Vettel may lose out because they would cross the finish line behind those cars behind Verstappen who they were ahead of. If the rules were applied correctly.

Mind you, all drivers behind the lead car are classified in the position that they cross the finish line after the winning car has taken the chequered flag. Which those cars that were instructed to overtake would only do before those cars behind Verstappen [before he overtook Hamilton] would have crossed the finish line. Of course, that would be the case if these cars has not been lapped by these five cars [ Norris, Alonso, Leclerc, Ocon and Vettel ]

Therefore the actual classification ought to be

Verstappen
Hamilton
Ricciardo
Stroll
Schumacher
then the five cars that were instructed to overtake.

There is more to come.