Lewis Hamilton and many of his fellow Formula 1 drivers did not react well to the news that the FIA had quadrupled limits on the amount of fines they can receive from managers.
Toto Wolff says the FIA needs a “reality check” after the World Motor Sport Council approved a big increase in the amount of fines that Formula One teams and drivers can receive.
The maximum fine that could be imposed was previously 250,000 euros (£218,000), as set out in the International Sports Code. But for F1 drivers, the amount has quadrupled to one million euros (£871,000).
For team principal Mercedes Wolff, this news came out of the blue. “There needs to be measures to prevent serious violations of regulations, but no one anticipated this would happen,” he told reporters in Austin.
“I think a million, we need to do a reality check to find out whether that fine is appropriate or not. I don’t think we’ve ever fined a driver 250,000 euros, so increasing the cap is something what you should do is understand where it comes from.
“We don’t want to introduce Formula 1 in a world where [it’s] difficult enough to fine drivers a million, I think half the grid would do that .” I’ll win’ I can’t pay them. I don’t think that’s enough money… I don’t think we should play with these numbers, they look very strange to people looking us.”
In a statement released by the regulator, it was stated that the fines cap “has not been reviewed or revised for at least 12 years” and that the previous cap “does not reflect reflects the current needs of motorsport.
But the decision has angered drivers, especially Lewis Hamilton, who said he would not pay unless the FIA committed to channeling all the money raised into positive projects. “When it comes to things like this, we really need to think about what message it sends to the people who are watching,” he said.
“If they’re going to fine a million euros, make sure 100% of it is for a good reason. There’s a lot of money in this whole industry and we need to do more to create access better, better diversity, more opportunities for people who don’t or usually don’t get the chance to take part in a sport like this – so many causes around the world – it’s the only way they can received millions of dollars from me.”
Hamilton’s fellow drivers tried to hide their disbelief at the scale of the increase. “It’s a huge amount of money,” said Charles Leclerc. “I don’t know what deserves a million euro fine, but it’s more than that… I mean, some drivers earn less than that.”
Max Verstappen referred to his penalty for touching the rear wing of Hamilton’s car during the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix as he joked about it. “Well, if touching the back wing costs 50,000 euros, I’d like to know how much a million is – then maybe we can sponsor the bottle of wine too,” he said.
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