Lewis Hamilton could cost Mercedes over £8,000 in penalty charges after picking up a fine at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Mercedes star was issued a suspended £8,000 (€10,000) fine for a breach of parc ferme rules in Spielberg last month.
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were slapped with an identical penalty at the same race in a blow for the top-three finishers. The penalty was awarded after it emerged the drivers’ physios entered parc ferme before the trio were weighed.
This was a direct breach of the FIA regulations and a penalty was awarded to each driver.
The FIA said: “The stewards received a report from the media delegate, which was subsequently confirmed by video evidence, that the physio/drivers’ assistants of the top three finishers entered parc ferme without permission and in violation of the procedure that was published prior to the race ‘for the orderly conduct of the event.
“In part, this is to prevent handing over of items to the drivers prior to them being weighed.
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“The competitor is fined €10,000, which will be suspended for the remainder of the season pending any further violation of the procedure, and the competitors are warned that the passes of the individuals concerned may be revoked in case of systemic violation.”
Hamilton is one of six drivers to have picked up an £8,000 (€10,000) breach for breaking FIA rules this season, according to new data from Casumo. However, he is still below the two highest offenders who have picked up penalties of over £50,000 between them.
Carlos Sainz has been hit with £21,000 (€25,000) worth of fines while Sebastian Vettel picked up penalties of £30,000 (€35,900). Vettel picked up £21,000 (€25,000) in one go at the Austrian Grand Prix after walking out of the drivers’ briefing ahead of the race.
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Despite Hamilton’s expensive penalty, he is one of the F1’s best-behaved drivers having picked up just one penalty over the past 13 races. Only Mick Schumacher and Verstappen have also been slapped with just one infringement with Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell being hit with two already this season.
However, these are still low compared to F1’s highest offending drivers. Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon have both been slapped with eight penalties so far this season while Vettel and Zhou Guanyu have seven.
