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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jonathan Spencer

Mercedes and Red Bull in "harmony" at crunch F1 meeting over Abu Dhabi decider

FIA's new president Mohammed Ben Sulayem opened up on the relations between Mercedes and Red Bull at F1's crunch meeting in London surrounding the controversy from the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

A meeting was held in London on Monday looking into the FIA inquiry into the Abu Dhabi decider, which has led to calls for Michael Masi to be sacked as race director following his controversial safety car ruling.

Masi ordered only the lapped cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to overtake the safety car after Nicholas Latifi's crash, which dramatically allowed the Red Bull star to get right on the tail of his British rival - who was cruising to the title.

Verstappen subsequently overtook Hamilton in effectively a single lap shootout for the title, and the fall-out from the decision has rumbled on ever since.

Toto Wolff and Christian Horner were both "in line" at the FIA meeting in London (Getty Images)

An inquiry has been conducted into the finale, and on Monday the FIA held discussions with all 10 teams at the F1 Commission meeting over what took place.

Ben Sulayem hosted the meeting, and despite worries there could have been plenty of friction between Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and his Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff, the FIA chief played down these fears.

"They were in line," Ben Sulayem told Sky Sports . "I think it's because of Valentine's Day.

"They were close to each other and they were in a good mood, so that was good. I expected more entertainment but it was good to see the harmony between them."

The FIA boss' comments come after the governing body gave an update to the sport's fans into the inquiry, following the conclusion of the London meeting.

And "structural changes" are set to be made, with the details from the meeting being disclosed in the coming days.

An FIA statement read: "The FIA President led detailed discussions of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton played out a rollercoaster 2021 season (AFP via Getty Images)

"Feedback from the Commission on matters raised will be incorporated into the President’s analysis and he will publicly present news of structural changes and action plan in the coming days."

No indication has been given over what the findings concluded and what changes will be made, but there have previously been reports that F1's governing body could make structural changes to race control.

Masi came under criticism for several calls last season, amid pressure from team principals throughout races, but structural changes could give the Australian some much-needed support if they keep faith in him.

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