"There is absolutely no movement" - FIA's Max Verstappen decision revealed

Max Verstappen has been penalized after a fan video emerged showing him touching the rear wing elements of cars in parc ferme - a breach of Article 2.5.1 of the sporting code. After the FIA examined the video footage post qualifying, the governing body decided to hand him a monetary fine only, of €50,000.

According to the sporting code, only permitted officials are allowed to enter the parc ferme area, and no operations, checking, tuning, or repairs can be carried out on the cars unless permitted by the FIA.

While Max Verstappen has been fined for the violation, the FIA also considered the same footage for the Lewis Hamilton investigation, as the Briton's Mercedes had been under the scanner for a technical infringement.

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Max Verstappen "acted out of habit", feels FIA

Examining footage from the fan video that surfaced online and videos from other cars, the FIA examination said:

“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.”

The FIA borrowed footage from the pitlane CCTV cameras, as well as the cars of Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Verstappen to conclude that there was no evidence proving that the driver was trying to tamper with the cars by touching their wings.

Explaining the reasons for the same in their statement, the FIA said:

“Clear, high-definition video from the rear-facing roll-hoop camera on Car 44 shows that there is absolutely no movement of any of the wing elements on Car 44 when Verstappen touches the back of the wing. The Stewards are satisfied, from watching all the videos, his body position and the video of the wing, that there was insignificant force when Verstappen touched the wing.”

While Max Verstappen’s actions were a breach of parc ferme regulations, considering they were harmless, the FIA stewards decided against levying a points or grid penalty. They further explained that it had become a habit for drivers to touch cars in parc ferme post qualifying and race, which has been noticed several times in the past.

The stewards concluded that there was no evidence suggesting Max Verstappen had touched the cars intentionally, but had acted "out of habit", which the Dutchman had voiced in his defense as well.