Hefty Fines
In announcing the decisions made by the World Motor Sport Council, which took place in Geneva yesterday, the Federation officially increased the maximum fines that can be imposed on drivers in all categories for violations of the International Sporting Code.
The FIA emphasized that the 250,000-euro cap for Formula 1 had remained unchanged for the past twenty years and needed to be adjusted, taking into account the “current needs” of motorsports. Thus, drivers in the pinnacle of motorsport can now be fined up to 1 million euros.
Driver Reactions
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s comment came swiftly: “If touching a rear wing in parc fermé costs 50,000 euros, I’d like to understand what a 1 million euro fine could correspond to!” he explained with a smile, referring to the incident at Interlagos in 2021 when he had to pay that amount for touching and inspecting Lewis Hamilton’s car at the end of the qualifying session.
Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc observed that “we’re talking about a huge amount of money. I have no idea what would warrant a 1 million euro penalty. I mean, several drivers earn less, so it’s a lot of money.” – the Ferrari man pointed out ahead of the United States Grand Prix, which takes place this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, focused on how these sums are used: “When discussing these kinds of things, we need to focus on the message we’re sending to those who are watching. If they have to fine 1 million, we must ensure that 100% of the amount goes to a valid cause. There’s a lot of money going around in this sector, and we can do a lot in terms of accessibility, diversity, and providing more opportunities for those who wouldn’t have the chance to get into our sport,” and he concluded, “That’s the only way they’ll get money from me.”
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