Lewis Hamilton superfan sells Mercedes to protest controversial F1 season finale

A Lewis Hamilton superfan has sold his Mercedes after the F1 team decided not to appeal the stewards' decision at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

In an interview with The Sun, the frustrated Hamilton supporter from the United Kingdom, named Neil Steele, said:

“Selling the car is petty and will have no material effect but it will make me feel better and on a matter of principle. I will not support a team or brand that puts politics ahead of justice. Us, the fans, feel hugely let down, and we question Toto Wolff and Mercedes' values.”

Steele put his luxury SUV from the German manufacturer — a Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S — up for sale on social media in protest of Mercedes’ decision.

Furthermore, Steele accused the team of “selling out” and walking away from their moral responsibility to defend Lewis Hamilton.

"I am frustrated as a traveling fan to see an F1 world title decided in such unsavoury circumstances by an FIA race director. I trusted the Mercedes team to pursue their legal appeals in righting wrongs, with no realistic expectation of result change. They have a moral obligation to protect sporting integrity, only to sell out the fans and Lewis Hamilton.”

Mercedes lodged two protests with the FIA challenging the final classification of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Max Verstappen’s F1 title. They accused race director Michael Masi of abusing his powers, and Verstappen of overtaking Hamilton before the safety car line on the final lap restart.

However, the Abu Dhabi stewards ruled against Mercedes in both cases and confirmed Max Verstappen as the 2021 F1 world champion. Meanwhile, the team had the right to appeal the stewards' decision and take the matter to the International Court of Appeals. Soon after the stewards' ruling, the Brackley-based outfit registered their intention to appeal with the FIA. After a few days of back and forth with the FIA, however, the team decided not to proceed any further.

---

“Valtteri Bottas cost Lewis Hamilton his title”: Jolyon Palmer

Jolyon Palmer feels Valtteri Bottas’ poor Abu Dhabi performance cost Lewis Hamilton his eighth world title. The former Renault F1 driver has claimed that without Bottas, Red Bull could pit Max Verstappen without facing any consequences, and therefore chose to go on the offensive.

Speaking at the BBC’s Chequered flag podcast, Palmer said:

“Bottas had a shocker. Now, did that cost Hamilton the title? If Bottas is within a pit-stop window of Verstappen, Verstappen is not having ‘free’ stops willy-nilly.”

In his last race as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes, Bottas qualified sixth behind the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and two other cars. At lights out, he lost even more positions and fell to P9, and spent much of the race fighting in the midfield.