Mercedes have had their first protest against the result of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix dismissed by race stewards.

Max Verstappen won the race and the championship in dramatic circumstances on Sunday, passing Lewis Hamilton on the final lap after the safety car had been deployed.

Having entered the race all square with Verstappen at the top of the standings, it seemed as though Hamilton would clinch a record eighth driver's title when he built up a healthy lead in the closing stages.

However, Hamilton's advantage was wiped out by the deployment of a safety car that was sent onto the track after Nicholas Latifi crashed with four laps remaining.

Verstappen pitted to get fresh tyres for a potential shot at passing the Mercedes man, and he got that chance when race director Michael Masi belatedly ruled lapped cars could overtake the safety car, which headed in and allowed one lap of racing between the contenders.

Verstappen beat Hamilton as Mercedes fumed, with Masi explaining to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff: "We went car racing."

As Red Bull celebrated their sensational victory, Mercedes protested "against the classification established at the end of the competition".

Mercedes' protest alleged Verstappen had overtaken Hamilton before the safety car pitted and opposed the decision to allow the selection of lapped cars to pass.

While race stewards accepted Verstappen had "for a very short period of time" moved slightly ahead of Hamilton, they were satisfied that he dropped back behind the leader before the safety car period ended.

Red Bull had argued that Hamilton had never been overtaken, rather that both cars were "on and off the throttle" and that there were "a million precedents" where cars had moved alongside an opponent while under a safety car before dropping back.

No decision had yet been announced by the FIA – the sport's governing body – with regards to Mercedes' second protest.