Said to have deliberately courted a \u20ac50k fine at the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix in a battle of wits against Mercedes, Max Verstappen says it \u201cdidn\u2019t happen that way\u201d, although he doesn\u2019t recall the exact scenario.<\/p>\n
Verstappen won his first of four F1 World Championship titles in 2021, coming out on top in a tension-fraught season in which he and Lewis Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel for the title.<\/p>\n
Were Max Verstappen\u2019s actions premeditated?<\/p>\n
Trading blows on the track, and their team principals trading verbal barbs away from it, the protagonists recorded 14 one-two results as momentum swung back-and-forth with Verstappen<\/a> winning the title in a final lap shoot-out at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. <\/p>\n He finished the season eight points ahead of Hamilton in the standings, but potentially a few pennies behind him as the Red Bull driver was slapped with a \u20ac50k fine at the Brazilian Grand Prix for touching the rear wing of Hamilton\u2019s W12.<\/p>\n That weekend began with Hamilton qualifying P1 for the grand prix with Verstappen parking behind him in parc ferme only to, according to the FIA\u2019s notes at the time, \u201cput his right hand at the slot-gap of the rear wing of his car. <\/p>\n \u201cHe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Max Verstappen v Lewis Hamilton in the F1 rankings<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49F1 points all-time rankings: Where do Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso feature?<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49F1 race wins: Which drivers have the highest win totals in F1 history?<\/a><\/p>\n While the stewards declared there was \u201cno movement\u201d, Verstappen was slapped with a \u20ac50,000 fine for breaching parc ferme regulations.<\/p>\n Verstappen lost the battle, but he won the war as Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying after he was referred to the stewards over a potential rear wing infringement. His DRS\u2019s opening slot was found to be larger than the permitted 85mm.<\/p>\n