The maximum fine Formula 1 stewards may hand out at a grand prix has been quadrupled by the FIA.
The previous upper limit of €250,000 has been increased to €1 million (£870,000).The maximum fines have also been increased for other FIA series. Stewards at other world championship events, such as Formula E, can now fine competitors up to €750,000. For other FIA championships the maximum fine is now €500,000.
The FIA said the change was necessary because the upper limit for fines “has not been reviewed nor amended for at least the last 12 years and does not reflect the current needs of motor sport.”
It is rare for stewards to issue a fine close to the maximum allowed by the rules. At the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend Lewis Hamilton was fined €25,000 (£21,600) for crossing the track during the race on Sunday. He was also issued a suspended fine of the same amount.
Much higher fines have been issued by other FIA bodies. Last year the FIA’s Cost Cap Administration fined Red Bull over £6m for exceeding the 2021 spending limit by £1.8m. The largest fine ever issued in F1 occurred in 2007, when the FIA World Motor Sport Council fined McLaren $100 million (£69.9m) for using intellectual property acquired from Ferrari.
The FIA has also announced a clampdown on the unauthorised use of pyrotechnics such as flares at its events. They have become increasingly prevalent at tracks in recent years, though some venues have already begun to prevent fans from using them.
“In October 2022, the Council of the European Union stressed the need to prevent and counter the use of pyrotechnics at sports venues,” it noted. “Following review of the situation in motor sport, it has been concluded that the unauthorised use of all pyrotechnical devices at races can pose significant public health and safety risks and, as such, should be prevented and countered.
“The World Council therefore approved new provision and definition in the ISC prohibiting the unauthorised possession and use of pyrotechnics at FIA competitions.”
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Pat Pepper
19th October 2023, 18:58
James Hunt’s career would never have got off the ground if flares had been banned from the circuits back then.
SteveP
19th October 2023, 19:14
Groan…
anon
19th October 2023, 20:07
SteveP, it would seem that we are in a situation where we will have the same usual posters who seem to think that it is normal to break the law.
Firstly, the types of flares being used are controlled pyrotechnic devices – as others have noted in the past, many of those who were travelling to the Austrian GP, which has seen heavy use of flares in the past, were committing a criminal offence by illegally transporting a controlled pyrotechnic device into that country.
In the case of the Dutch GP specifically, the individual who let off that flare actually got off quite lightly with only being thrown out of the venue. Under Dutch law, a flare is considered a controlled weapon and the illegal transportation and use has a theoretical maximum penalty of nine months in jail.
That leads onto the second point, which is that there are parts of Europe where the specific act of letting off a flare during a sporting event is also a criminal act. In the UK, for example, you’d be committing a criminal offence under the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act 1985 and could be jailed for up to three months (notwithstanding any additional penalties that would be levied for the use of a controlled pyrotechnic device).
Pat Pepper
19th October 2023, 23:44
Well as the law currently stands in the UK, it is not a criminal offence to wear 1970s clothing, although some might believe it should be. I doubt it will ever be considered a sartorial offence in the Netherlands.
SteveP
20th October 2023, 7:33
I’m never quite sure about the mindset, do you think they might use the brit-style p-take and turn up to Zandvoort in large numbers wearing bright orange flared trousers?
SteveP
20th October 2023, 7:20
It would appear that you missed the incredibly bad pun/play on words that “Pat Pepper” used, and has now emphasised.
“Flares” were a fashion item in trouser style when James was driving.
anon
20th October 2023, 8:32
SteveP, it is probably unclear, but I was in fact referring to a different poster further down this thread.
MacLeod (@macleod)
20th October 2023, 7:39
I have never heard of hooligans at Dutch football matches punished with more then a stadiumban. If you say that flares are weapon (which are not) fireworks are there is a difference as you could get a prison sentence for exploding fireworks (not at 31 December 22.00 – 1 Januari 02.00)
But at the last Dutch GP there were no flares during the races only after the end of the event.
baasbas
20th October 2023, 20:53
@macleod
Strictly speaking, those smoke torches/bombs are illegal. A ‘regular’ (benagli) torch would be OK if it is categorized as class F1 (huh-huh-huh).
https://wetten-overheid-nl.translate.goog/BWBR0027932/2020-12-01?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Raymond Pang
20th October 2023, 10:46
Oh bravo.
SteveP
19th October 2023, 19:08
For possessing the Ferrari IP.
As I recall, the finding of the investigation was that McLaren had not used the information for any portion of the McLaren car design.
Meanwhile, Renault slipped under the radar with a virtually identical situation of possession of McLaren IP.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
19th October 2023, 22:43
No, that’s incorrect.
The initial investigation found that McLaren had possession of Ferrari IP but it had not been used; no penalty was issued on that occasion. The investigation was then reopened after the emails between Alonso and de la Rosa emerged, providing prima facie evidence that Ferrari’s information had indeed been used. The eventual conclusion was that McLaren had access to – and used – an on-demand flow of Ferrari information courtesy of their mole within the team. It was for this that they were given the hefty fine, and comparison with the relatively modest breaches by Renault, Toyota etc are completely misleading.
SteveP
20th October 2023, 8:11
Mostly that Ron Dennis and Max Moseley had a deep, deep hatred of each other (which, if you recall later revelations about Max, was totally understandable on Ron’s part) and Max was not a nice person who took every opportunity to “get even, first”
Max accused Ron of lying, which was later retracted but after the imposition of penalties on the team.
Not a pretty sequence, and in the light of history not a shining example of what a senior figure for the FIA should do.
If the information had been used on the car, the car wouldn’t have been allowed to be used in the competition, nor would the drivers have been allowed to retain points gained. The FIA studied the McLaren design and concluded that Ferrari IP had not been used. If Max had one sniff of a possibility that it had, then all the details of the offence would have been out in the media.
Nick T.
19th October 2023, 19:10
F1’s new super, duper, suffocating safety beyond common sense ethos is driving the fun right out of F1. Soon enough, reporters won’t be able to ask distressing questions to help protect the driver’s “state of mind.”
Retired (@jeff1s)
19th October 2023, 20:09
F1 Business School
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
19th October 2023, 20:15
Are fireworks and lame-throwers along the grandstands still allowed? If not, how will anyone know when the race has finished?
MacLeod (@macleod)
20th October 2023, 7:43
everything is allowed but not for the paying customers….
SteveP
20th October 2023, 8:16
Apparently there’s this old-fashioned thing called a chequered flag that gets waved at the end of the last lap. ;)
Or the penultimate lap if you hand the flag to an over-excited, cerebrally challenged celebrity :(
Maybe if it’s a close race, they should flip a coin to decide which lap to wave the flag?
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
20th October 2023, 13:49
@bullfrog As long as the people letting off the fireworks have permission from the venue (and, if appropriate, the FIA), those would not be deemed an offence and would not attract a penalty. Technically, spectators could get permission to let off flares, but I doubt anyone will bother.