F1: Hamilton and Wolff to miss FIA prize-giving gala

While Mercedes has elected to drop its appeal into the FIA’s handling of the late-race safety car restart in the F1 season finale, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes Formula 1 team boss Toto Wolff will miss this evening’s FIA prize-giving gala, in protest over the way the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix finish transpired.

Speaking to media on Thursday, Wolff said that the squad would be represented to pick up its constructors’ championship trophy by its chief technical officer James Allison.

Says he has no interest in talking to Michael Masi, and that his integrity will not allow him to attend the FIA gala tonight.

“Both of us won’t be there,” explained Wolff, when asked if he or Hamilton would be travelling to Paris for the end of season event.

“I won’t be there because of my loyalty to Lewis and because of my own personal integrity.

“But we will be represented as a team by James Allison, who will be taking the trophy on behalf of all the people in Brackley and Brixworth who should celebrate our eighth consecutive world championship title, who deserve to be celebrated because it’s a fantastic achievement that we are very proud of.”

Hamilton’s absence from the FIA Prize Gala is a breach of F1’s sporting regulations, which makes it mandatory for the top three finishers in the championship to attend.

Article 6.6 of F1’s Sporting Regulations states: “The drivers finishing first, second and third in the Championship must be present at the annual FIA Prize Giving ceremony.”

We shall see whether the FIA will impose any sanction on Hamilton for not going to the event.

Wolff hopes Lewis Hamilton doesn’t walk away from Formula 1, after the two were left “disillusioned” following the highly contentious Abu Dhabi Grand Prix finale.

He won’t walk, as he will want to break his tie with Michael Schumacher – both have seven F1 titles.

“Lewis and I are disillusioned at the moment,” said Wolff. “We are not disillusioned with the sport, we love the sport with every bone in our body and we love it because the stopwatch never lies.

“But if we break that fundamental principle of sporting fairness and authenticity of the sport, then suddenly the stopwatch doesn’t become relevant anymore because we are exposed to random decision-making. That is clear that you may fall out of love.

“And you start to question if all the work you have been putting in, the sweat, tears, and blood can actually be demonstrated in bringing the best performances on track because it can be taken away randomly.

“We will never overcome the pain and the distress that was caused on Sunday.

“I would very much hope that Lewis continues racing because he’s the greatest driver of all times,” Wolff added.

“He, when you look at it from the point of view of the last four races, he dominated them on Sunday, there wasn’t even a doubt who won the race. And that was worthy of winning the world championship.

“So we will be working through the events over the next weeks and months. And I think as a racer, his heart will say I need to continue because he’s at the peak of his game.

“But we have to overcome the pain that was caused upon him on Sunday, also because he is a man with clear values. And difficult to understand that it happened.”

“Every step on the way it was joint decisions with Hamilton,” Wolff explained.

“We decided together with Lewis to protest, to launch the appeal, and to withdraw the appeal. As you can imagine not only for him but also for us, as a team, it was terrible to be confronted with a decision that decided the outcome of the world championship.

“But nobody of us, neither him nor us, wanted to win a world championship in the courtroom.

“But on the other side we were deeply wronged on Sunday, and it wasn’t just a case of a bad call, it was freestyle reading of the rules, and it left Lewis like a sitting duck.”