The first decision is made, Max Verstappen fined in Brazil

We almost had to wait twenty-four hours to finally know the decision taken against Max Verstappen, under investigation since Friday evening. As a reminder, after the qualifying session won by Lewis Hamilton and who established the starting grid for the qualifying sprint race, Max Verstappen had physically inspected the rear wing of his rival's car.

For this action, the championship leader was found guilty of breaching Article 2.5.1 of the FIA ​​International Sporting Code, which states that“Inside the Parc Fermé, access is only permitted to assigned officials. Any operation, verification, preparation or restoration is prohibited unless authorized by the above-mentioned officials or applicable regulations.” The Dutchman was fined 50 euros. 

“The stewards also examined the video taken by a fan at the side of the track, images from the pit lane and video content from cars 14, 33, 44 and 77, it is specified in the official document. In all of this content, these videos gave a clear picture of what happened in parc ferme after qualifying. Verstappen got out of his car and walked to the back of his car. He then took off his gloves and placed his right hand at the opening of the rear wing of his car. He then went up to the No. 44 car and repeated the exercise, touching the rear wing in two places, but on the lower side, at the opening area, but never near the point of the opening. 'actuation'. 

Force exerted by Verstappen considered insignificant

The commissioners also clarified that the content 'high definition video taken on the camera facing the rear of the No. 44 car shows that there was absolutely no movement observed on any elements of the rear wing of the No. 44 car when Verstappen touched it, and the Gaze commissioners are convinced, thanks to the videos and Verstappen's body position, that the force applied by Verstappen was insignificant.

The stewards also clarified that the drivers had developed the bad habit of sometimes touching the cars in Parc Fermé after the sessions. Max Verstappen having also explained that it had become customary to touch precisely these parts of the cars, the rear wings having been a big point of speculation between the two teams for several races. “Considering on the one hand the fact that no direct harm was caused in this specific case (…) and that no precedent for penalties exists for this, but on the other hand that there is violation of the regulations and this could potentially have led to serious consequences, the commissioners decided to take a decision and impose a fine of 50 euros.

Second in the qualifying session, Max Verstappen will start from pole position in the qualifying sprint race (Saturday, 20:30 p.m.), following the disqualification from the session of Lewis Hamilton, who was the fastest on Friday evening. The Englishman was disqualified for a technical irregularity noted on his DRS.  The seven-time world champion will start from last place in the sprint race, and as a reminder has five penalty places on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.

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