How Formula 1 drivers reacted to new level of fines from FIA - 'Ridiculous', 'scary' and 'not appropriate'
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Published 20/10/2023 at 09:55 GMT+1
The decision by the FIA to raise the maximum fine that stewards can impose on drivers and teams to €1 million has been met with disbelief ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin this weekend. Drivers said that they were confused as to what sort of action would result in a fine that large with the FIA offering no such clarification when they released the statement.
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Formula 1 drivers were left unimpressed with the decision from the FIA (F1’s governing body) to raise the potential maximum fine that stewards can impose from €250,000 to €1 million.
The FIA stressed that this was just a precautionary measure to prevent drivers or teams from committing truly egregious acts.
They also made it clear that the money from these fines go towards motorsport development causes amidst concern from some drivers about where the money would be going.
With regards to that specific area, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said: "We do need to be thinking about the message that sends out to those watching,
"If they are going to be fining a million, let's make sure 100% goes to a good cause.
"There is a lot of money in this industry and there is a lot more we need to do in terms of creating better accessibility and diversity. That's the only way they will get that million from me."
In terms of the fine itself, Alpha Tauri’s Daniel Ricciardo said it was “scary” whilst Haas’ Kevin Magnussen added that it “sounds ridiculous”.
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Lewis Hamilton
Image credit: Eurosport
Newly crowned world champion Max Verstappen questioned what would warrant a fine that large, with the FIA offering no such clarity.
"If touching a rear wing is $50k, I would like to know what a million is," the Red Bull superstar said.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso also raised concerns saying: "It sounds not appropriate. It is the first news I had coming from you, so I need to understand better, but we are in a sport that is already considered very elite, very closed.
"We are raising some topics about sustainability, environment, we are all trying to do our best to make this sport more accessible for everyone, so when you put this big numbers or something like that, it seems not right."
Elsewhere, Hamilton said that he didn’t feel that he was being singled out by the FIA with the news that they are revisiting the incident from the Qatar Grand Prix when he crossed the track in breach of the rules following a crash with team-mate George Russell.
The Mercedes driver did say however that he felt that the communication over the ruling had been “poor”.
"I don't think I was singled out. I don't think what they said is what they meant. I think they are going to look into how they can tackle those things moving forwards so those things don't happen.
"We need to make sure we are continuously focusing on safety. They just need to speak to their PR agent to do a better job."
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