The FIA has made a surprise move by increasing the maximum fine stewards can hand out to drivers from $264,400 to a whopping $1,057,000. F1 drivers have not taken the FIA’s decision too kindly and have expressed their displeasure with the same. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen is the latest to comment on the same. The Danish driver recently revealed in an interview that he would rather end his career than pay the $1,057,000 fine.
According to a report put out by racefans.net, the FIA has stated that it is necessary for them to increase the upper limit for fines as they have not reviewed or amended the same for at least the past 12 years. As a result, the previous fines did not “reflect the current needs of motorsport.”
#F1: George Russell feels like the quadrupling of the FIA’s maximum fine is “ridiculous” given that drivers who are starting out in grand prix racing often earn nowhere near that amount.
“I think it’s pretty ridiculous that a driver could be fined €1m. In my first year of…
— deni (@fiagirly) October 20, 2023
The primary concern with FIA’s current fine is that some drivers do not even earn $1 million in a whole season. For example, even a driver like Magnussen will need to pay one-sixth of his $6,000,000 annual salary if the stewards decide to levy the maximum fine on him.
Kevin Magnussen responds to FIA increasing the fine limit
Kevin Magnussen has not held back in expressing his honest views about the FIA increasing the upper limit of fines to $1,057,000. In a recent interview, he labeled the same as “ridiculous” and stated that he would rather “disappear” than pay such a huge amount.
As quoted by WTF1, the 31-year-old stated, “I don’t know what offense it is to be €1 million ($1,057,000), but that sounds ridiculous. I mean Charles can give his watch, but I would disappear. Never to be found again“.
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Similarly to Magnussen, other drivers such as Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton also expressed their surprise on hearing the news. All three of them explained how they do not understand what offense would lead the stewards to hand them a $1,057,000 fine.
Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton express concern with FIA’s fines
On hearing the news, Charles Leclerc explained (as quoted by racefans.net) how he has “no idea what deserves a €1 million ($1,057,000) penalty“. He added that since some drivers make less than that in a year, “it’s a lot of money.”
Similarly, Max Verstappen also expressed his surprise with the FIA increasing the maximum fine limit. The Dutchman hilariously stated that “if touching a rear wing is €50k ($52k),” then he would “like to know what €1 million ($1,057,000) is“.
On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton is adamant that if the FIA is keen to increase the fines, then they need to ensure that “100% of that goes to a cause“. He added that since there is a huge amount of money in this industry, they need to do a lot more to create “better accessibility, better diversity, (and) more opportunities for people who wouldn’t normally have a chance to get into a sport like this.”
Hamilton made it clear that only if the FIA have a good reason for charging the drivers such a high amount of fine, then only would he be willing to pay. All the fines that the FIA receives, they utilize it in their development funds. These funds are used to improve the overall safety of the sport.
