The appeals were expensive and arduous, but in the end Mercedes lost - again. After being thrown out of the 2015 Formula 1 world championship for contravening the FIA's new 'anti-dominance' regulations, Mercedes tried desperately to get itself reinstated for 2016.
To no avail. The W07 was deemed potentially even more superior than its predecessor during pre-season testing, and despite much legal wrangling Mercedes was banned from F1 for another year ahead of the first race in Australia.
F1 simply cannot afford to have one team running away with the championship year after year, announced FIA president Jean Todt. This is bad for motorsport. It's why people prefer to watch videos of cats being cute on the internet, or going out for Sunday strolls in the park, instead of watching grand prix racing.