Title duel rumbles on with lawyers: 'Cut-off for decision is Thursday'

Max Verstappen crossed the finish line ahead of Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi and has seemingly secured his first World Championship title. But Mercedes are not happy with the way it ended and the epic title duel will end in the stewards office. Reports suggest Mercedes have a QC [Queen's Counsel] involved and that the FIA Prize giving gala on Thursday is the cut-off point for a decision.  

Title duel rumbles on 

A safety car came out onto the circuit following Nicholas Latifi's crash. Under the safety car, there were a number of lapped cars in between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. These were clear to overtake the safety car, but other lapped cars behind didn't make their way through. Mercedes believe this goes against FIA protocol and are appealing the race result. The meetings are underway. 

"The situation is, both teams were summoned to the stewards, then given a break and were instructed to go back and get their evidence together. We've just seen Horner and Newey go in on Red Bull's behalf. This is a continuation of that earlier meeting," Sky Sports reporter Craig Slater explains. 

"We could have a decision from the stewards on whether they uphold or don't Mercedes' protest. Mercedes then have a license via FIA protocols to go by their appeals procedure but only until Thursday because the prize-giving ceremony is a cut-off point for all of that. Then there will be further [discussions] via the CAS so potentially this could go on. Mercedes bought Paul Harris with them specifically for this Grand Prix. Because they thought there could be some kind of regulatory issue to untangle. They think the final lap shootout should not have occurred."