Red Bull's Max Verstappen will personally pay the €50,000 fine levied upon him by the FIA for a breach of parc fermé rules after Friday's qualifying in Sao Paulo.
Verstappen was investigated by the stewards after the session when he approached Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in parc fermé and was seen touching the W12's rear wing.
While it later transpired that no harm had been done by the Dutchman, the interaction was still a breach of F1's sporting rules that warranted a penalty.
Verstappen was therefore subsequently fined a hefty €50,000 that will come out of his pocket according to Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko.
"He has to pay it, yes," said Marko who nevertheless deemed the penalty "harsh".
"Hamilton's case was clear," said the Austrian, referring to the Mercedes driver's exclusion from qualifying. "As for Max, that was a pretty harsh penalty, even though it doesn't mean he's going to lose his job."
Verstappen himself was unfazed by the prospect of forking out the €50k, saying it would provide the FIA officials with a nice opportunity to wine and dine at his expense.
"It's quite a big fine, so I hope they have a nice dinner and a lot of wine, some good expensive wine!" joked the championship leader.
"That would be nice, and they can invite me for dinner as well. I'll pay for that dinner, too!"
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
