"'Human error' and the acknowledgment of it" - Mercedes points to crucial factor in FIA report in moving on from Abu Dhabi debacle

Mercedes' Toto Wolff believes the FIA's acknowledgment of "human error" in Abu Dhabi is a good step forward for the sport.

Former race director Michael Masi botched a late safety car restart in the final race of 2021, 'gifting' Max Verstappen his first F1 title.

The FIA recently eleased its report on the chaotic race at Yas Marina which saw Mercedes world champion Lewis Hamilton narrowly miss out on a record-breaking eighth title win. The much-awaited report acknowledged the "human error" made in the closing stages of the race. Toto Wolff reacted to the findings, saying:

"I think it is a massive step-change to what we have seen before. Whether the report is complete or not, to release it is a good step forward in terms of governance and you can read it either way. For us, there is a sentence that says 'human error' and the acknowledgment of it is I think very important and now to close the chapter. I know it has come out but I have not been thinking about Abu Dhabi anymore since our car has proven to be not competitive on the track for this year."

Lewis Hamilton claims Mercedes' problems will take longer to fix

With Ferrari and Red Bull being the clear favorites in 2022, many have their eyes on Mercedes, who managed to place P3 and P4 in the season opener despite being plagued with issues. Hamilton has claimed that his team's problems cannot be fixed immediately and that it will take a number of weeks before the car is at par with Red Bull and Ferrari. He said:

“We’ve learned a lot from this week. Their [Ferrari’s] straight-line speed as well as the Bulls were very quick in a straight line and their performance through corners is quite a bit different to us. The car was very hard to drive but it could have been worse. I’m hoping for the next race we manage to find some improvements but it’s a fundamental issue that’s going to take a little bit longer I think to fix.”

The seven-time world champion ran fifth for the majority of the race before Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez retired in the closing moments of the race, gifting the Briton a P3 finish. While the team is incredibly motivated by the results in Bahrain, they acknowledge that a substantial amount of work needs to be done before they can challenge for the 2022 title.