The 2024 season of the highest category of professional motorsports, Formula 1 is just around the corner and it will be celebrated with the first race of the year at the Bahrain International Circuit. Each and every one of the teams that will compete in said world championship is fine-tuning the last details to be able to have a very competitive car that aspires to win both the drivers’ championship, as well as the constructors’ championship.
The FIA, the body that governs Formula 1, has made some changes for the 2024 campaignamong which are quadrupling the maximum penalty figure in the event of a penalty in the middle of the competition.
Changes in regulations and significant sanctions
The FIA was quite clear in making it public knowledge that the most expensive sanction that could be imposed on drivers for a serious error such as causing a crash between one or more cars, it would have a price of 250,000 euros. But despite this, the pilots could also be sanctioned with fines of up to 1 million euros.
The new measures were approved at a meeting of the World Motorsport Council that took place in Geneva. last October in 2023 and is sure to have an immediate impact when the season begins on Saturday, March 2.
The FIA made it clear that the modification of the International Sports Code is as a consequence of the previous rules “they do not reflect the current needs of motorsports”, after not having been reviewed or modified in the last 12 years. At no time were the pilots consulted about the monetary increase for the sanctions, and many of them showed their annoyance about it.
Lewis Hamilton spoke loud and clear about it
“We have to think about the message that is sent to viewers. If we are going to be fined a million, let’s make sure that 100% “It goes to a good cause,” explained the Briton. And he added: “It’s a lot of money in this industry and there’s a lot more we have to do in terms of creating better accessibility and diversity, that’s the only way they’re going to take that million from me.”
Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell had this to say on this topic: “I think it is quite ridiculous that a driver can be fined one million euros,” slipped just days before the start of a new season.
Hamilton further added: “In my first year in F1, I had a five-figure salary and I lost more than six figures in that first year paying for a coach, flights, an attendant and that’s probably the case for 25 percent of the grid. We do what we like, so I don’t complain about it, but if they fine him a million, I don’t know what will happen,” she argued about the high cost involved in the profession.
“We have already asked the FIA before to tell us where these fines go, what causes. You have to invest in training, but so far we have not received any response. I would love to have some clarity and transparency, if they really believe that a million fine is worth it and is going to be reinvested in the sport, then maybe one of the drivers who earns a lot is happy to pay that, but it seems obscene. .
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