Lewis Hamilton had a conversation with the FIA in Austin. He acknowledged his error of crossing the track in Qatar.
Lewis Hamilton is upset about the FIA’s communication regarding their investigation into his behavior at the Qatar Grand Prix. He acknowledges that he was wrong to walk across a live track.
Hamilton received a €50,000 (£43,600) fine for crossing the track during the race while the Safety Car was deployed. This happened after he crashed in the first corner, colliding with his teammate George Russell. Half of the fine is suspended for the remainder of the season.
The FIA is reviewing the behavior of the Mercedes driver due to concerns about the influence he might have on younger drivers. The statement from the FIA has left Hamilton and others confused.
Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, stated that he met with the FIA in Austin before the United States Grand Prix. He expressed his support for the sport’s governing body in their efforts to prevent a recurrence of the Qatar incident.
“I don’t think I was singled out. Ultimately, I think it was just poor communication. I don’t think what they have said is exactly what they meant,” said Hamilton.
“I think what they mean is that they are just going to look into how they can tackle it. Those sorts of things. We’ve been forced to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“If you look at, I think there was a karting incident recently where a kid was hit. So we really need to make sure that we are continuously focusing on safety and I think that’s really at the root of it. But I just think they probably need to speak to their PR agent to do a better job.”
Half of Hamilton’s fine was payable with the other half suspended on the condition that there is no further breach of a similar nature over the rest of 2023. Hamilton also received an official reprimand from stewards, his first of the season.
“When I sat in the in the stewards office, I put my hands up. In the heat of the moment, it was the wrong decision,” Hamilton added.
“What’s important is to send the right message particularly for the younger drivers throughout the ranks that that’s the wrong thing to do. I apologised at the time and I think they are just looking how to make sure that doesn’t happen moving forwards.”
The FIA made an announcement about a change to its International Sporting Code (ISC) after a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Geneva on Thursday.
Hamilton said: “I’m not sure what it’s referring to exactly. But I think we need to… when it comes to things like this, we really need to be thinking about the message that sends out to those that are watching.
“If they are going to be fined one million then let’s make sure that that 100 per cent of that goes to the right 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 don’t normally have a chance to get into a sport like this. So many causes around the world. That’s the only way they will get that million from me.”
In the press conference, Hamilton was sitting with Ricciardo, Magnussen, Leclerc, and Verstappen. Other drivers also seemed surprised by the rule.
Magnussen said the fine “sounds ridiculous”, Ricciardo thinks it’s “scary” and Leclerc revealed some drivers don’t even earn that amount in a season
George Russell thinks that the fines are getting excessive and arbitrary.
“I think it’s pretty ridiculous that a driver could be fined €1m. 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 per cent of the grid,” he said.
“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?”
He added: “We’ve requested before from the FIA to hear where these fines are going toward, what causes they’re going to. 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.”
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