Verstappen fined €50,000 for touching Hamilton’s rear wing at Interlagos in 2021

After qualifying at Interlagos in 2021, Max Verstappen touched both his own rear wing and Lewis Hamilton’s in parc fermé. The FIA fined him €50,000 for violating Article 2.5.1 of the FIA International Sporting Code, which prohibits unauthorised actions in parc fermé.

Verstappen said he was looking at Hamilton’s rear wing to see how much it flexed. The stewards reviewed footage from a rear-facing camera on Hamilton’s car and found no indication that Verstappen had caused damage.

Hamilton was disqualified after qualifying because the outside opening of his DRS exceeded the permitted maximum of 85 millimetres. Mercedes discovered that two bolts on the wing element had shaken loose during the session. Team principal Toto Wolff later said the wing was broken and that Mercedes had been disadvantaged.

At the hearing, Mercedes acknowledged that Verstappen’s touch was unlikely to have caused the defect but still called any connection an open question. The stewards rejected that suggestion, concluding that Verstappen’s actions had no influence on Hamilton’s DRS case.