F1 writer Mark Hughes gave a damning verdict on the FIA investigation led by the new president, saying that it would not change what happened at Abu Dhabi.
The FIA opened an investigation into what happened that fateful night at Abu Dhabi, where the rules were controversially broken on the last lap. It ended up influencing the world championship result, with Lewis Hamilton losing out on a world title to his title rival Max Verstappen.
The fallout from Yas Marina saw many slam the FIA for their abhorrent decision making and stubborn stance on addressing it. However, with a change in leadership, they have decided to look at what happened and hopefully come to a consensus.
However, Hughes gave a damning verdict on the FIA investigation, saying that nothing substantial would come out of it.
In his column for Motorsport Magazine, Hughes wrote, “The ‘will he/wont he’ saga of whether Lewis Hamilton will take part this season took another turn a few days ago with the FIA statement about its ‘detailed analysis’ of events at last year’s Abu Dhabi season finale.
“It stated that the outcome of this investigation will be announced at the World Motor Sport Council meeting in Bahrain on 18 March – i.e. the first day of practice for the opening round of this year’s championship.”
No chance for change
“But however unjust what happened in Abu Dhabi was – and the misapplication of the sporting regs changing the outcome of the race and the title was unjust – there is zero chance of the outcome being changed. That just isn’t going to happen,” he continued.
“There will likely be some changes made to the regulations to avoid a repetition, there may be some associated personnel changes.
“That will doubtless enrage fans of Hamilton and please his detractors, such is the unfortunate tribal aspect of much of F1 fandom. But there are some other important de-couplings to be made here.”
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