"This post costs US$ 50,000" - F1 Twitterati react to Mercedes' 'rear wing' post taking a dig at Max Verstappen

The Mercedes F1 team recently posted a funny clip on Twitter of someone touching W13's rear wing. The moment they touched the wing, a sound effect was played, the video turned black and white, and a red 'Wasted' sign was shown, similar to the effect shown in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto 5 when the player's character dies.

This was a humorous way to show how F1 cars cannot be touched or tinkered with during parc fermé. Usually, after a session, cars arrive in the pit lane to enter the parc fermé period. However, there have been reports of drivers touching other competitors' cars to inspect their components and provide valuable information to their teams. Hence, the joke was made by the Mercedes F1 team on their official Twitter handle.

In the video, the person touched the rear wing of Lewis Hamilton's car, which hinted towards an incident that happened in November 2021 where Max Verstappen touched Hamilton's rear wing after the qualifying session of the 2021 Brazilian GP. It was later discovered that the DRS system on the Briton's car breached technical regulations. Though Verstappen's tinkering didn't cause the change in the DRS system, the Dutchman was fined €50,000 by the FIA.

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Reactions from F1 Twitterati on Mercedes' rear wing post

The 2021 F1 season is etched into the minds of all F1 fans. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton raced valiantly against each other to win the world championship. Hence, people instantly connected this post to the time when the Dutchman was fined for touching the Mercedes W12's rear wing in 2021.

Many of them humorously mentioned the €50,000 fine. They even commented on how the team itself had to pay the fine since the person who touched it was Mercedes' social media admin. One even joked about how the fine can be put under the catering budget, taking a dig at Red Bull's cost cap breach in the 2021 F1 season.

"This post costs US$ 50,000"

"50000 € debited from your bank account"

"I will take the 50k"

"Incoming €50,000 fine for the team"

"Don't worry, just take the £50000 out of the catering budget"

Several fans also remembered how Sebastian Vettel used to inspect cars and even touch them after entering the parc ferme. The retired German driver was famous for observing other competitors' cars after completing a session. Though looking at cars during parc ferme is obviously not punishable, he has been fined for touching them on certain occasions.

"Vettel?"

"All the times seb did the same"

In conclusion, F1 Twitterati loved Mercedes' tweet about touching Lewis Hamilton's rear wing. It evoked loads of memories of the 2021 F1 season and how Max Verstappen was penalized for touching Hamilton's car in Brazil.