Mercedes GP have said they will not appeal against the 20-second penalty imposed on Michael Schumacher at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Team decide fresh course of action is in "the best interests of the sport"
Mercedes GP have said they will not after all appeal against the 20-second penalty imposed on Michael Schumacher following Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
The team initially declared their intention to appeal the decision made by race stewards after Schumacher passed Ferrari's Fernando Alonso at the final corner of the last lap of the race - the safety car having just peeled into the pits following an earlier accident.
The seven-times world champion was therefore relegated from sixth to 12th, and so out of the points positions.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Mercedes said they made it clear to both Schumacher and team-mate Nico Rosberg over the team radio that once the safety car pulled in they were free to race to the finishing line, a distance of a few hundred metres.
But the stewards, including 1996 world champion Damon Hill who lost the 1994 title to Schumacher in the season-closing Australian Grand Prix after being punted off the track by the German, decided he had breached the rules.
Citing "the best interests of the sport," Mercedes have reversed their initial intent, which means the result of the race can now be declared official.
Even so, they also made it clear they felt they were in the right at the time.
The statement read: "We believed that the combination of the race control messages 'safety car in this lap' and 'track clear,' and the green flags and lights shown by the marshals after safety car line one, indicated the race was not finishing under the safety car and all drivers were free to race.
"This opinion appears to have been shared by the majority of the teams with cars in the top 10 positions who also gave their drivers instructions to race to the finish line.
"It was clear from our discussions with the stewards after the race that they understood the reasons for our interpretation and acknowledged this was a new and previously untested situation, but ultimately disagreed with our interpretation."
Bias
Hill was quoted in The Times on Tuesday as saying that he had received a number of "stinging" emails accusing him of bias.
However, in a clear reference to Hill, the team were at pains to play down any such accusations.
The statement added: "Mercedes would like to emphasise that we fully support the inclusion of past drivers on the stewards panel and are completely satisfied the Monaco Grand Prix stewards acted professionally, impartially and properly in this matter."
Mercedes concluded their statement by claiming the penalty imposed on Schumacher "to be disproportionate in the circumstances".
It added: "Whilst we cannot be happy with the outcome, we are pleased the FIA has recognised the reasons for our interpretation.
"Therefore in the best interests of the sport, Mercedes will not be submitting an appeal."
Alonso therefore holds onto his sixth position, with Rosberg seventh, the Force India duo of Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi eighth and ninth, and Sebastien Buemi in his Toro Rosso 10th.