Max Verstappen has been fined €50,000 by the FIA for breaching parc fermé rules when he touched Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in the restricted area at the end of qualifying on Friday.
The Red Bull driver was summoned to the stewards' office after yesterday afternoon's session after it transpired that he had approached Hamilton's car and touched its rear wing.
The gesture was later portrayed as suspicious as Hamilton's car came under investigation for a potential infringement of F1's technical rules, with its rear wing DRS element proving to be in breach of the said regulations when it was noted by the stewards that that the gap between the two rear wing lower and upper planes exceeded the authorized maximum 85mm when DRS was open.
The stewards collected video evidence of Verstappen touching his car's rear wing after qualifying and then walking over to Hamilton's car to check something on the W12's rear wing element.
They also spoke directly with Verstappen who was joined in the stewards' office by Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.
It is not uncommon for drivers to walk over to a rival's car and examine up close whatever catches their attention, but the sporting rules strictly forbid any physical interaction with any car under the parc fermé regime.
Verstappen was therefore in breach of Article 2.5.1 of the FIA International Sporting Code".
Article 2.5.1 of the ISC states: "Inside the Parc Fermé, only the officials assigned may enter. No operation, checking, tuning or repair is allowed unless authorised by the same officials or by the applicable regulations."
"This general tendency has been seen as mostly harmless and so has not been uniformly policed," noted the stewards in their verdict. "Nevertheless, it is a breach of the parc fermé regulation and has significant potential to cause harm.
"Considering the fact that no direct harm was caused in this case, in the opinion of the Stewards, and that no earlier precedent of penalties for this exists – on the one hand; but that it is a breach of the regulation and has potential for serious consequences on the other, the Stewards determine to take action in this case and order a fine of €50,000."
The stewards also noted that "it is intended that all teams and drivers take notice that future breaches may incur different penalties from the Stewards of those events."
At the time of the publication of the verdict regarding Verstappen's misdemeanor, the stewards had yet to deliver their decision regarding Mercedes' breach of the technical regulations involving the rear wing and DRS of their W12.
Update:
Lewis Hamilton has been excluded from the results of Friday's qualifying session in Sao Paulo following Mercedes' breach of the technical regulations over a DRS issue. The Briton will therefore start this afternoon's sprint race from the back of the grid while Verstappen inherits pole position, with Valtteri Bottas lining up alongside the Dutchman on the front row for the 24-lap event.
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