The FIA has finally released a statement regarding the investigation into the events in Abu Dhabi. What does their statement say?

Late, but still. For the first time since the investigation began, the FIA has let out information about what happened in the last race of the 2021 season. It also announced the following plans and points that will be discussed with the Sports Advisory Committee. So when will we see a final decision?

Let’s recap again. It’s lap 54 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Nicholas Latifi will crash his Williams at turn 14. Naturally, yellow flags are waved and the safety car is called out after the crash at the Yas Marina circuit.

As the debris was cleared away, all the cars lined up behind the safety car, but not in the right order.

And in this case, the rules are quite clear – the safety car then instructs all the drivers who are a lap back to pass it and line up behind the safety car in their respective positions.

However, there have been a series of po-faced and controversial decisions by the race director since then.

Masi announced two and a half laps before the end of the race that the very same monoblocs that were between Hamilton and Verstappen would not be able to overtake the safety car, and if the race was restarted it would be in that form.

However, after pressure from Christian Horner, the Red Bull boss, Masi reversed his decision. All cars going for a lap for a short while have been given permission to overtake the safety car. Less than 30 seconds later, however, he changes his verdict again and instructs that only those between Hamilton and Verstappen can overtake the safety car.

The events in Abu Dhabi have since sparked a number of conflicting opinions, both from the media, various experts and not least amongst the fans. Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff did not attend the FIA gala and the international motoring federation then announced that it would investigate the incident.

And then a few dozen hours ago, the FIA released an update of sorts on that investigation. This is also the first information that the FIA has released since the investigation began. And even in that, it only states that the investigation is fully underway and hinted at what the next steps will be.

The newly elected president of the organisation, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, is going to consult with F1 teams and drivers on the whole matter as part of his analysis of what happened in Abu Dhabi. A final decision will then be announced at the March meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.

“Following the decision of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 15 December 2021, the FIA administration, led by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has launched a detailed analysis of the events of the last Dhabi Grand Prix,” the FIA said in a statement on its Twitter account.

In the statement, we also find that Ben Sulayem has initiated consultations with all teams regarding various issues, including this one. The International Automobile Federation also states that on January 19, one of the items on the agenda of the Sports Advisory Committee will be the use of the safety car.

Subsequently, as we write above, these issues will also be discussed with all F1 drivers. Ben Sulayem has also asked the Secretary General for Sport and the recently appointed Director of Monoposts, Peter Bayer, for proposals to revise and optimise the FIA F1 organisational structure for the 2022 season.

“The outcome of the detailed analysis will be presented to the F1 Commission in February and final decisions will be announced at the World Motor Sport Council meeting on 18 March in Bahrain,” the statement also read.

Sources: Motorsport, Twitter