Brazil GP: Verstappen fined 50,000 euros for examining Hamilton's rear wing in Parc Ferme

Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen on Saturday was fined 50,000 euros for touching and examining Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton's rear wing in Parc Ferme after qualifying in Brazil.

However, Verstappen has not been given a grid penalty of any kind for the offence.

"Hamilton's Mercedes rear wing was referred to the stewards after FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer found an issue with it on Friday. That investigation is ongoing at the time of writing, but footage released after the session showed Verstappen looking at the rear wing of Hamilton's car in Parc Ferme, which in itself was a suspected breach of Article 2.5.1 of the FIA International Sporting Code," F1 stated in an official statement.

That article states: "in the Parc Ferme, 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."

After second practice on Saturday in Sao Paulo, the stewards released the following statement explaining the 50,000 euros fine handed to Red Bull racer Verstappen:

"The stewards heard from the driver of car 33 (Max Verstappen) and team representative. The stewards also examined a fan video taken from across the track, CCTV video footage taken from pit lane and in car footage from car 14, car 33, car 44 and car 77. In all, these videos gave a clear picture of what occurred in parc ferme following the qualifying session," stated an official statement.

"Verstappen exits the car, then moves to the rear of his car. He then takes his gloves off and puts his right hand at the slot-gap of the rear wing of his car. He then moves to car 44 and repeats the exercise, touching the rear wing in two places, once on either side of the DRS actuation device, but on the bottom rear side of the wing, in the area of the slot gap and never near the actuator or the end fixation points," it added.

The stewards warned all teams and drivers that "future breaches may incur different penalties".

( With inputs from ANI )

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