Max Verstappen summoned to stewards for overtaking Lewis Hamilton under safety car

The final race in Abu Dhabi saw Lewis Hamilton lose his lead to Max Verstappen, who took his maiden F1 championship win on the very final lap. However, it has been reported that the Dutchman has been summoned to stewards for overtaking Lewis Hamilton under the safety car that was caused by Nicolas Latifi's crash on lap 54.

The following describes the reason for the protest:

"Protest by Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team against the classification established at the end of the Competition, alleged breach of Article 48.12 of the 2021 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations."

After the end of the virtual safety car, things took a dramatic turn. For the course of the entire race, for the first time, Max Verstappen saw the opportunity to regain his place in the lead against Lewis Hamilton.

The overtake that resulted in a win for Verstappen in the end has been protested by Mercedes. As per the allegation, the 24-year-old overtook Lewis Hamilton behind the VSC, and that only a couple of lapped cars were allowed to overtake at the time.

---

George Russell furious with SC incident that caused Lewis Hamilton to lose a place

23-year-old George Russell, who will be joining Lewis Hamilton in 2022 as a Mercedes driver, was absolutely furious with the rather controversial overtake by Max Verstappen during the virtual safety car that resulted in his eventual win.

Demonstrating respect for Verstappen's abilities and skills as a driver, Russell is of the belief that the win was "unacceptable." Although it was initially decided that lapped cars would not be allowed to overtake, the decision was quickly reversed with merely two laps to go. The first driver to share his feelings about the incident, Russell witnessed it first hand, given the fact that he had to retire his car early into the race.