Max fined $70k for touching Lewis' car
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SAO PAULO • Formula One stewards fined Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen €50,000 (S$77,400) on Saturday after he touched and examined the rear wing of title rival Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes following the Sao Paolo Grand Prix qualifying.
The Dutchman qualified second for Saturday's 100km sprint race that determined the starting grid for yesterday's race at Interlagos.
After the session on Friday, Verstappen inspected the rear wing elements on his car and Hamilton's Mercedes, touching them with his hands.
Later that afternoon, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) revealed that Hamilton's car had failed a technical inspection by a minute 0.2mm.
The stewards also said in a statement that Verstappen had breached Article 2.5.1 of the international sporting code. The article covers behaviour in the secure "parc ferme" area after qualifying.
It stipulates that no unauthorised "operation, checking, tuning or repair is allowed".
In-car footage and video filmed by a fan was looked at by stewards as part of the hearing.
It clearly showed Verstappen getting out of his car, removing his gloves and putting his right hand into the slot gap of the Red Bull's rear wing. He then did the same with the Mercedes, touching the rear wing in two places.
The stewards' report said there was no movement of any of the wing elements of Hamilton's car when touched with what they described as "insignificant force".
"It is clear to the stewards that it has become a habit of the drivers to touch cars after qualifying and the races," a statement read.
"This was also the explanation of Verstappen, that it was simply habit to touch this area of the car which has been a point of speculation in recent races between both teams.
"This general tendency has been seen as mostly harmless and so has not been uniformly policed.
"Nevertheless, it is a breach of the parc ferme regulation and has significant potential to cause harm."
Stewards decided a fine was sufficient on this occasion but warned teams that future incidents could incur different penalties.
REUTERS
