Lewis Hamilton did not have the best of seasons on the track, as he ended an F1 year win-less for the first time in his illustrious career. Mercedes’ eight-year dominance finally came to an end as they failed to cope with the regulation changes of 2022. The Silver Arrows were considerably slower than Red Bull and Ferrari for the majority of the season.
Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, had a year full of mixed results. He was in a race-winning car for the first time in his career and it took him a long time to get up to speed with the F1-75. He was outperformed comprehensively by Charles Leclerc in the opening stages but began to show his form in the second half. The Spaniard even won his first-ever F1 race at the British GP in Silverstone. However, he insists that he can do much better and aims to fight for the Title in 2023.
Both drivers did not have optimal seasons, and the fact that they accumulated the highest amount of financial penalties is evidence of this fact. Penalties are given for a multitude of reasons, and sometimes it’s not in the drivers’ control. Unfortunately for Sainz and Hamilton, they each had to pay $26,000 in penalties in 2022.
How much did F1 drivers other than Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz pay in fines?
The 2022 season was not as exciting as last year, even in terms of fines paid. F1 fans cannot forget the time Max Verstappen was asked to pay $50,000 as a penalty for touching the rear wing of Hamilton’s W12. Nothing remotely controversial happened in 2022. This season, drivers picked up fines for speeding, incorrect submission of forms, or impending.
Hamilton and Sainz paid $26,000 each in 2022 according to motorsport.com. Taking P3 in this list is Alfa Romeo’s rookie Guanyu Zhou who has been fined a total of $16,000. Sebastian Vettel, Sergio Perez, and Daniel Ricciardo each paid around $12,000. Fan favorite Lando Norris too had to empty $5000 out of his bank account.
A lot of fans were surprised to not see Max Verstappen in the list’s top 10. The Dutchman has often been subject to heavy criticism, and many feel that Verstappen is an unnecessarily aggressive driver. The driver who closes out the top 10 in AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda who amassed a total of $3,300 in fines.
Also read: Ex F1 champion doesn’t think Max Verstappen would continue dominating in 2023
