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Mercedes has been denied its right to review an incident between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The Anglo-German squad failed in its bid to have the incident re-examined with the inclusion of new evidence.
Read the full FIA reasoning here
Hamilton and Verstappen were battling for the lead in Interlagos last weekend when, on Lap 48, the pair left the road while side-by-side at Turn 4.
Officials noted but did not investigate the incident at the time.
In the days following the race, once forward-facing footage from Verstappen’s car was available, Mercedes announced its intention to request the incident be reviewed.
An initial hearing over the matter took place on Thursday between representatives from the team and the stewards involved, but a decision was deferred.
That has now been announced, with Mercedes unsuccessful in this instance.
A lengthy report from the stewards outlined precisely why the request to review was denied, though in summary it declared that the new footage, while relevant, was not significant.
As such, Article 14.1.1 of the International Sporting Code was not met, meaning no review would be initiated.
The judgement also notes that it is not passing judgement on whether the incident was handled appropriately at the time by officials, merely that there is no right to review.
Further, had officials felt the inclusion of forward-facing footage from Verstappen could have been beneficial, the officials could have chosen to delay an investigation until which point as it was available.
“Had they felt the forward-facing video from Car 33 was crucial in order to take a decision, they would simply have placed the incident under investigation and rendered a decision after this video was available. They saw no need to do so,” the summary declared.
