Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed that neither he nor Lewis Hamilton will attend the FIA prize giving gala in Paris this evening.
The ceremony, which is held following the conclusion of each Formula 1 season, is usually attended by the top-three finishers in the Drivers’ Championship.
However Hamilton, who ended the 2021 campaign in second place, will not be present at the gala. Wolff, who led Mercedes to its eighth consecutive Constructors’ trophy, will also be absent.
It is unclear if Hamilton will face consequences for skipping the event, as Article 6.6 of the Sporting Regulations states that “the drivers finishing first, second and third in the Championship must be present at the annual FIA Prize Giving ceremony”.
Mercedes’ 2021 championship-winning F1 and Formula E cars were not at the prize giving gala photoshoot on Wednesday.
Wolff confirmed that technical chief James Allison is due to represent Mercedes at the gala.
“Both of us won’t be there,” said Wolff, on he and Hamilton. “And 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, 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.
“They deserve to be celebrated, because it’s a fantastic achievement that we are very proud of. And in a way I’m trying to compartmentalise the anger on the outcome of the Formula 1 drivers’ world championship and on the other side the pride and the joy of having achieved something unprecedented. That needs to be celebrated.”
Valtteri Bottas is due to be present to collect his trophy for finishing third.
Good on you Toto And Lewis
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.’
Perhaps Michael Masi can fix it for another driver to take that place? Against the regulations I know but…
How pathetic! I fully expected Mercedes to pull the appeal (probably for marketing response reasons), but I thought they would have the grace to attend the Sporting Body’s prize presentation, if only to continue the sporting gestures to Max. Actually – Lewis probably would not be allowed into France if he is still in GB, with their new C-19 regs just thought up by Macron and his anti Brit cronies!!
Like many people, I too was gutted that Hamilton lost the championship especially under these circumstances but Mercedes also got away with a lot this season and dodged several potential penalties. There was some aggressive driving by both Red Bull and Mercedes and as a spectator it made for great viewing but Toto Wolff now needs to take it on the chin, be the bigger man and move on.
RB: “Any doesn’t mean all” (which is ridiculous in the context of the regulation)
Merc: “Must doesn’t mean have to” (equally ridiculous, but could be an epic mockery of Red Bull)
Fuck them, he cry more that my new born child.
NO MICHAEL NO GOD PLEASE NOOO 😀
The FIA should make another rule on the fly and ban the both of them from participating Formula 1 in 2022. Both Wolff and Hamilton are nothing more than a constant black cloud over F1. The sooner these two pathetic clowns go, the better off the sport will be.
If those two leave the sport of Formula One everything will crumble. The TV rights will go down since many people want to see Mercedes. Moreover, teams like Mclaren, Aston Martin and Williams depend on Mercedes as a manufacturer. Therefore if they leave, they leave with three more teams.
No, F1 would not crumble — it was just fine before Mercedes entered their own team in 2010. There are enough engine manufactures to supply the other teams. And neither Lewis Hamilton or Mercedes are even close to being the most popular driver and team in F1, and this is evident by hearing more boos than cheers at races and seeing the massive backlash they have received over the past few years for various reasons.
I think Verstappen is the most reckless driver ever in F1
How could you blame Lewis for walking away from a sport that doesn’t follow the rules when one person robbed him of an eight title
Apparently you missed the Michael Schumacher years.
Anyone with a spark of honesty should avoid F1 like the plague, It has proved to be dishonest and no group should be allowed to govern itself, especially with such a huge rule book that they ignore whenever it suits them. They appear to do anything they think might increase revenue, but I and most of my friends will never watch any event organised by the FIA again and if there was any way of cutting out motorsport from my TV subscriptions it would already be done. Dishonest, disgraceful blatant race fixing.
So you want a governing body to govern the existing governing body? And if anything, people should avoid F1 (and almost all other sports) for supporting communist mind control operations like LGBT and BLM, and pushing drivers and teams to also support it.