Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fined about $10,000 each by FIA

Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fined by the FIA after a breach of Parc Ferme. 

Charles Leclerc won his third race of the season ahead of Max Verstappen in the 2022 Austrian GP. Leclerc managed to overtake Verstappen on three occasions to cement his victory. This was the fifth win of his career.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished P3 claiming a third consecutive podium finish. Leclerc moved to second in the Driver’s standings and trails the Dutchman by 38 points at the halfway mark of the season.

But the drama was not over once the chequered flag was waved. After the podium ceremony, the trio were summoned to the stewards for an alleged breach of parc ferme instructions.

The offence in question was the presence of drivers physios attending to them in parc ferme before the drivers could be weighed.

This was a breach of the International Sporting Code which calls for “follow the instructions of the relevant officials for the safe and orderly conduct of the event”. This is to prevent handing over items to the drivers prior to them being weighed.”

The FIA had previously warned the teams to not interfere with the drivers before they have been weighed. Niels Wittich, the race director for the Austrian GP specified “Driver physios must wait outside the cool down room behind the podium until the podium ceremony has concluded”.

The three drivers have been served with a suspended S10,123 fine. They are suspended for the remainder of the season pending further violation of the procedures.

Also Read: F1 twitter reacts to ‘ridiculous’ track limits during the Austrian GP

Was Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc’s fine by the FIA right?

Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were penalised for the presence of their physio during Parc Ferme. They were served a suspended fine of €10,000 fines. This means a driver need not pay it unless they repeat the fine during the remainder of the season.

But F1’s Twitter community feels the FIA has been too stringent this weekend. Sebastian Vettel was given a suspended fine of €25,000 for his behaviour at the drivers’ meeting.

The four-time World Champion left the drivers’ meeting without permission and expressed frustration at the meeting. FIA summoned Vettel to discuss the matter and the stewards said the breach “cannot go without penalty.”

Also Read: Charles Leclerc gives deep sigh of relief after winning Austrian Grand Prix