World champion Max Verstappen on Friday said there was no need for the governing FIA to publish the full report into the title-deciding safety car controversy at last season’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix even as most drivers called for greater transparency.
The FIA is set to present at a meeting of its World Motor Sports Council on Saturday the findings of its investigation into the decision to move only lapped cars between Verstappen and race leader Lewis Hamilton out of the way at the restart.
The change to the safety car protocol by then race director Michael Masi allowed Red Bull’s Verstappen to take the lead from Hamilton on the final lap of the race and win the title.
The FIA has already replaced Masi with two alternating race directors as part of an overhaul of its refereeing system.
It has also changed the wording of the safety car rules but no report has been made public so far.
“I don’t think we need a full report,” Verstappen told reporters at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
“You always analyse everything you do.
“If things can be written down in an easier way or a way to understand it better, the wording, then for sure.”
Hamilton said he had met with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Thursday and the two had agreed the sport needed greater transparency going forward.
“Looking forward to seeing (the report) come out and for people to know that the sport is transparent and we are learning from what’s happened in the past and we’ll make improvements moving forward,” said Hamilton.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said it was important for drivers to have access to it.
“Whether I will read it, I don’t think so, it will probably be too long, but it’s important to at least have the big lines and know what is the conclusion of it in order to grow from it,” the Monegasque added.
Hamilton’s new team mate George Russell called for the report to be published as soon as possible.
“The events that unfolded in Abu Dhabi were not to the standards that all of us expect … and clarity is needed,” he said.
At the same time, drivers agreed the sport needed to move on from the controversy.
“If not we’re just going to spend too much time in the past,” said Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
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