SAO PAULO – Commenting on Max Verstappen’s parc ferme incident after qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner indicated that he’d be “amazed” to see the stewards take serious action.
Max was summoned to the stewards over an alleged breach of the FIA International Sporting Code relating to parc ferme conditions when fan footage appeared to show him touch the rear wing on title rival Lewis Hamilton’s car.
Article 2.5.1 of the Sporting Code states: “Inside 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.”
Max and Red Bull are now waiting to hear if they will be penalised for the Dutchman’s actions after attending the hearing yesterday.
"We’re waiting, I think as everybody is, to see what the outcome is," Christian told Sky Sports when asked for an update.
“I’d be amazed if it was... there’s so many precedents, it’s become standard practice for drivers. If you were to look at every single incident, where do you draw the line? Even the driver hugging his mechanics, where do you draw the line on that?”
Christian argued that plenty of drivers have acted in a similar way to Max in previous years with no action being taken.
“As we see with many, many drivers, they sometimes have a look around at what’s going on with the other cars, so that’s all it was, a bit of inquisitiveness, but nothing more," comments Christian.
“We’ve had drivers pull our clutch paddles, we’ve had heads in cockpits, we’ve had front wings tested, tyres pushed, so it’s not something that’s unusual. It’s never been brought up or discussed previously.”
"Mercedes’ straight-line speed is very impressive, so I think (Max) is maybe just having a look at that,” added Christian.
“Drivers are very inquisitive animals sometimes, aren’t they? As I say, we’ve seen that many, many times.”
Max was called up after Lewis and Mercedes had been summoned for an alleged Drag Reduction System (DRS) breach − with the outcome of that hearing also yet to be communicated.
“The car has been reported to the stewards because it failed the test, and the test is quite clear," Christian said of Mercedes.
“We all saw the video footage of the car failing test, so I can’t see how (the car) did could then be deemed to comply with the (regulations) so it’s fairly binary.
“I remember back to 2012, we had an issue with the front wing, it failed the test, then we were kicked out and had to start from the back of the grid.
“You have the right to appeal it as a team, we chose not to on that day but were still able to come through to P3.” – Agencies, November 14, 2021
