Max Verstappen has been fined for violating Parc Ferme rules by touching the rear wing of Lewis Hamilton’s car after Friday’s Formula 1 qualifying in Brazil.
Verstappen was called to the stewards in Brazil on Saturday morning after a fan video surfaced in which he inspected and touched the rear wing of title rival Hamilton’s car after qualifying.
The hearing took place at 9.30 a.m. in Interlagos. Verstappen was accompanied by Red Bull Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley to the meeting with the stewards, which lasted less than half an hour.
A subsequent FIA bulletin confirmed that Verstappen had received a € 50,000 fine for violating Article 2.5.1 of the International Sports Act.
Article 2.5.1 of the ISC reads: “Only the assigned officials are allowed to enter the Parc Ferme. No operation, control, adjustment or repair is allowed unless authorized by the same officials or the applicable regulations.”
The stewards spoke to Verstappen and analyzed the video material of the fans as well as the recordings of the on-board cameras of the cars of Verstappen, Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso.
Importantly, the stewards note that there was “negligible force when Verstappen touched the wing of Hamilton’s car,” due to the ongoing investigation by Mercedes’ DRS, which failed post-meeting checks.
Commissioners admitted that inspecting and touching other cars had become “a habitual habit for motorists” that was “mostly harmless,” but noted that it was a violation of Parc Ferme rules and “has significant potential for harm.” ” have.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, congratulates pole man Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, in Parc Ferme
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
As a result, the stewards felt it was important to take action and pay Verstappen a fine of 50,000 euros. They also added that “all teams and drivers take care that future violations may result in different penalties than the stewards of these events.”
This means that Verstappen will keep second place on the grid for the sprint race and would inherit pole position should Hamilton be excluded from qualifying results.
Verstappen qualified second behind Mercedes driver Hamilton in Interlagos and was four tenths of a second behind when the title contenders locked out the front row for the sprint race on Saturday.
Hamilton’s sprint racing pole, however, was called into question when the FIA discovered that his Mercedes’ DRS did not meet the technical regulations.
The hearing was adjourned to Saturday morning and took place at 10:30 am local time in Brazil, with no decision being announced.
Verstappen is 19 points ahead of Hamilton in the 24-lap sprint in Interlagos on Saturday and has three points for the winner of Saturday’s race.
The result of the sprint race will then determine the starting grid for Sunday, but Hamilton will drop five places due to an engine penalty despite the decision of the stewards on his wing.
The full verdict
“The stewards heard from the driver of car 33 (Max Verstappen) and the team representative.
“The stewards also examined a fan video captured from across the track, CCTV footage from the pit lane, and car footage of Car 14, Car 33, Car 44 and Car 77. All in all, these videos gave a clear picture of that what happened in Parc Ferme after qualifying.
“Verstappen leaves the car, then moves to the rear of his car. Then he takes off his gloves and places his right hand on the slot in the rear wing of his car. He then moves to carriage 44 and repeats the exercise, touching the rear wing in two places, once on either side of the DRS actuator, but on the lower rear of the wing, in the area of the slot gap and never near the actuator or end attachment points .
“A clear, high-resolution video from the rear-facing roll hoop camera on car 44 shows that none of the wing elements on car 44 is absolutely moving when Verstappen is touching the back of the wing and the stewards are happy watching Videos, his posture, and the video of the wing that there was an insignificant force when Verstappen touched the wing.
“The stewards realize that it has become a habit for drivers to handle cars after qualifying and the races. That was also Verstappen’s explanation that it was simply a habit of touching this area of the car, which has been a point of speculation in recent races between the two teams. This general tendency was seen as largely harmless and therefore not consistently monitored. Nevertheless it constitutes a violation of the Parc-Ferme regulation and harbors a considerable potential for damage.
“In view of the fact that in this case, in the opinion of the Stewards, no direct damage has occurred and there is no previous precedent for penalties – on the one hand, but that it is a violation of the regulation and has the potential for serious consequences, decide the stewards to take action in this case and to impose a fine of € 50,000 events.
“Competitors are reminded that, pursuant to Article 15 of the FIA International Sports Law and Chapter 4 of the FIA Legal and Disciplinary Rules, they have the right to appeal against certain decisions made by the Stewards within the applicable time limits.”
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