Formula 1 team principals expressed surprise at the FIA’s announcement it will increase the maximum fine its stewards can impose during grand prix weekends to €1 million (£870,000).
Speaking in today’s FIA press conference, team bosses admitted they had not expected the change which was announced yesterday. The limit was previously €250,000.Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff agreed “there needs to be some deterrent for grave infringements of the regulations” but admitted “none of this was on the radar of anyone, that it would be coming.”
He is concerned the threat of an extremely high fine reflects badly on F1. “I think a million, we need to do a reality check with real life whether that is an adequate fine or not,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve ever fined a driver 250 so raising the ceiling is something that one needs to understand where it comes from.
“I don’t think we want to portray Formula 1 out there in a world where it’s tough enough to give drivers fines of a million. I think half of the grid wouldn’t be able to pay them. And I don’t think it’s adequate, considering – I don’t think we should be playing around with those numbers that seem very surreal for people that are watching us.”
Aston Martin’s Mike Krack strongly agreed with Wolff. “Let’s keep feet on the ground throwing such numbers,” he said.
“We have spectators here that are buying tickets already for quite high prices. By throwing numbers around like we do currently, I think we need to come back a little bit more to reality.
“There’s a lot of drivers who don’t even make anything in this area. So I don’t know where it came from, I was caught out when I read it. The most important thing is that you’re not getting caught.”
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, who was fined €7,500 in 2019 for referring to a steward as “stupid” and “idiotic”, said the development was “very unexpected.”
“Is it needed? €250,000 is quite a lot of money in my world. There is people, drivers which make a lot of money out there, I know that, but obviously it’s earned, it’s not given for free.
“If you do something you shouldn’t be doing there is a limit to what you should fine somebody. [But] it needs to be realistic.”
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David BR (@david-br)
20th October 2023, 21:47
Meanwhile, far more importantly, F1TV has nicked $5.19 off my card for nothing: my subscription is there on GooglePlay, but opening the app just asked me to ‘subscribe now’ and pay again. HTF are we supposed to resolve these issues? There’s no support option. So I just cancelled. I’ll renew again next year. Maybe.
Sorry, yes. €1 million for a fine is obscene. What happened to do ‘ban them for a race’ option if they actually want drivers to behave?
olpeculier (@olpeculier)
20th October 2023, 22:52
The way things are going, it’s going to cost that much to do a full F1 weekend…
amped
20th October 2023, 23:39
“F1 needs “reality check””. Well since it is an FIA matter, no F1 does not need a reality check.
In the days where teams spend 100s of millions each year with most drivers on multi-millions deals per year, a maximum fine of 250,000 is a joke! I’m glad it has been increased.
Then there is the fact that the increase applies to all series not just F1, even though F1 sees a higher increase because of just how much more money in it.