President Ben Sulayem justifies himself by saying that the ceilings have not been adjusted for 12 years, but it will still be rare to reach certain figures
@
Salvuss
The International Federation has decided to penalize riders and teams with much more severe fines than in the past. On the sidelines of the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council which was held in Geneva on the Thursday of the United States GP in Austin, the FIA announced that the sports stewards will have the possibility to impose fines with a maximum limit up to four times higher for future infringements of the sporting code. Specifically, stewards who until now could at most impose a fine of 250,000 euros, will instead be able to go up to one million for those who are guilty of particularly incorrect behaviour.
ADAPTATION TO THE TIMES
—
A rather strong decision that President Mohammed Ben Sulayem justified by recalling how, in reality, the previous limit had never been adjusted in the last 12 years and that for this reason it no longer reflected the needs of current motorsport. However, it must be said that these are figures that are not so common to see: teams and drivers are usually fined 5,000 euros for the most common infringements, reaching higher sums only in rare cases. In the Qatar GP, for example, Lewis Hamilton received a fine of 50,000 euros for crossing the track during the race, after contact with his teammate George Russell at the start. Furthermore, the Englishman actually paid only 25,000 euros, because the remaining part was suspended on probation and will only be paid if the infringement is repeated in the coming months.
HEAVIER FINES?
—
However, it is not only Formula 1 that the Federation has addressed, given that the World Council has also tightened the maximum sanctions in the other world championships: thus, in Formula E, in the WEC and in the World Rally Championship, the ceiling will rise to 750,000 euros . What remains to be understood is whether, by quadrupling the maximum, even the fines for the most banal infringements of the sporting code – such as unsafe release at the pit stop (i.e. when a driver is sent back to the track by cutting off an opponent after the stop) or speeding in the pit lane – will suffer substantial increases. For sure, it will be better for the teams to try not to find out.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED