FIA to Release Abu Dhabi Findings Two Days Before Start of 2022 Season

The FIA shared an update pertaining to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix investigation on Thursday, including its next steps and when the findings will be released—March 18, two days before the start of the 2022 season. 

Per the governing body's statement, in part: “The FIA President launched a consultation with all F1 teams on various issues, including this one. On January 19, an item on the agenda of the Sporting Advisory Committee will be dedicated to the use of the Safety Car. The following stage will be a shared discussion with all F1 drivers.

“The outcome of the detailed analysis will be presented to the F1 Commission in February and final decisions will be announced at the World Motor Sport Council in Bahrain on 18 March.”

Max Verstappen’s victory and world champion title came with controversy in December. A late safety car came out for a Nicholas Latifi crash with just a few laps to go. Red Bull brought in Verstappen to switch to soft tires, but Hamilton had to stay out on his hard tires or else he would have sacrificed the lead.

Due to lapped cars, there were five cars between first-place Hamilton and second-place Verstappen, though all of those cars were behind the two race leaders in overall time. Race officials initially decided those lapped cars could not overtake the safety car. 

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner asked F1 race director Michael Masi over race radio: “Why aren’t we getting these cars out of the way? We only need one racing lap.”

Masi, later, made the decision to let those five lapped cars pass the safety car, which resulted in Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff yelling over the race radio to Masi.

The race restarted with Verstappen just behind Hamilton, and the 24-year-old retook the lead on the final lap to win the race and the title. Formula One stewards later dismissed both of Mercedes’ protests concerning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the controversial restart.

Wolff previously said he and Hamilton are “disillusioned” with Formula One given the outcome, and these findings could reportedly determine whether the British star will continue to compete or retire, per ESPN.