Grand Prix Drivers Association director George Russell has slammed the FIA’s decision to raise the maximum fine imposed on F1 competitors to €1 million, calling the move “ridiculous” and “obscene”.
The governing body decided to adjust the upper level of its financial sanctions as set out in the FIA’s International Sporting Code because it felt that the maximum threshold which had been in place since 2012 no longer reflected “the current needs of motorsport”.
But Russell questioned the scope of the FIA’s hike - from €250,000 to €1 million – and also its potential impact on young drivers in F1 who would not have the financial means to pay such hefty fines.
"I think it's pretty ridiculous that a driver could be fined €1m," the Mercedes driver said on Thursday in Austin.
"In my first year of Formula 1, I was on a five-figure salary and actually lost over six figures in that first year from paying for my trainer, paying for flights, paying for an assistant. And that's probably the case for 25% of the grid.
"We're doing what we love, so we're not complaining about that. But if you take a year one driver who probably by the end of the year is losing over €100,000 because of the investments he has to make, you fine them a million. What's going to happen?"
While questioning the common-sense of the FIA’s decision, Russell also called on the FIA to explain how the money from the fines will be used.
"We just want transparency and understanding,” he added. “I think already the fines are getting out of control.
“Verstappen being fined 50,000 for touching a car [in Brazil in 2021], Lewis [Hamilton] being fined 50,000 [for crossing a live track in Qatar]… It feels like these numbers are being plucked out of thin air.
“When there's a lot of great global issues going on and so much poverty around the world, how a federation can just make up these six figure, seven figure fines?"
Russell said the GPDA has asked the FIA in the past for an explanation on how it uses the proceeds from its fine, but that appeal that has always fallen on deaf ears according to the Briton.
"We've requested before from the FIA to hear where these fines are going toward, what causes they're going to,” continued Russell. “It needs to be reinvested into grassroots, but so far we've had no response on where that's going.
"If they truly believe a €1m fine is worthwhile and it's going to be reinvested into the sport, then maybe one of the drivers who's being paid a lot is happy to pay that fine. But it seems obscene."
Russell’s Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton also called on the FIA to be more transparent with regard to how it uses its fines.
"When it comes to things like this, we really need to be thinking the message that that sends out to those that are watching," commented the seven-time F1 world champion.
"If they are going to be fining a million, let's make sure that 100% of that goes to a cause.
"There's a lot of money in this whole industry and there's a lot more that we need to do in terms of creating better accessibility, better diversity, more opportunities for people who wouldn't normally have a chance to get into a sport like this.
"That's the only way they'll get that million from me."
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen added his tongue-in-cheek take to the topic. “If touching a rear wing is €50k, then I would like to know what €1 million is,” said the Dutchman.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also wondered what type of fault would justify a $1 million fine.
“I have no idea about what deserves a €1 million penalty,” he said. “I mean, some drivers are making less than that. So it’s a lot of money.”
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