After the grand prix, Mercedes and Red Bull met with race officials.
Lewis Hamilton said over his team radio at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that the race had been manipulated.
After Max Verstappen passed him on the final lap, Hamilton said that this had been manipulated.
The handling of the race is something that Mercedes will appeal.
They lodged two protests on Sunday night, but they were both rejected by race stewards.
A deserved title was decided by a questionable call.
The governing body's own rules and standard protocols appeared to be in violation of the decision to back race director Michael Masi's handling of the restart race.
Mercedes have 96 hours from giving notice of intention to appeal to make a decision. Mercedes said on Monday that they were still considering their options.
The team have not commented publicly about the events at the marina but have a sense of injustice.
This is not directed at Verstappen or Red Bull.
Hamilton did not mention the safety car situation in his few television interviews after that, and he was not made available to the written media, even though it is a requirement for the top three finishers to appear in an official news conference.
He said Mercedes had given it everything this last part of the season.
While the dust settles from Abu Dhabi, Mercedes have decided that it is better not to make public comment.
It is very rare for the court of appeal to overturn stewards' decisions.
A number of other drivers are confused about the way the race was restarted after a safety-car period.
Lando said it was made to be a fight. It was for the TV. It was for the result.
It was not up to me to decide whether or not it was fair.
The safety car was deployed with five laps to go as Hamilton was dominating the race ahead of Verstappen and on the way to a record eighth world title.
The race was stopped for a one-lap shootout on the last lap after Hamilton and Verstappen both chose to pit for fresh tires. Verstappen won his first world title.
Masi initially wanted to make sure the race didn't end behind the safety car, but after pressure from Red Bull, he changed his mind.
He only allowed the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to go through, not the ones between Verstappen and Sainz's Ferrari.
Sometimes they let you go and sometimes they don't. Half the time, it's just 50%. I was assuming that they were just not going to let us past, so they said that.
I was surprised to do it for the final lap and for a one-lap shootout.
Daniel said: "I'm speechless." I don't know what to think of that. I need to know how it all came about.
Charles Leclerc said the decisions were a bit weird.
