Sakhir (dpa) – Formula 1 vice world champion Lewis Hamilton receives a penalty after not attending the mandatory gala of the motorsport world association Fia.
“There will be a kind of fine,” said the Mercedes driver himself on Friday at the Grand Prix in Bahrain. As the Fia later announced, Hamilton wants to donate 50,000 euros. The money is intended to benefit a disadvantaged student who is to receive a degree recognized for motorsport.
Hamilton, like his team boss Toto Wolff, stayed away from the event in Paris at the end of last year. “Should there be a breach of the rules, we will not forgive this,” said the new Fia President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
After the controversial Formula 1 final in Abu Dhabi with questionable decisions by the race management at the time, Max Verstappen was honored as world champion in Paris. Hamilton’s then Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas was present at the gala as third in the World Cup. According to the rules, however, the top three in the drivers’ classification must be present at the ceremony.