Lewis Hamilton commits to Mercedes until 2025
Lewis Hamilton has called for the FIA to ensure that fines racked up by F1 drivers “go to a good cause” after the governing body quadrupled the amount that they can fine stars – with the maximum punishment for one offence now £880,000. Several drivers expressed their disbelief ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, while the Mercedes star had one caveat for the new regulations.
The change to the International Sporting Code (ISC) was approved at a meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council in Geneva after it was deemed that the previous maximum of £218,000 “does not reflect the current needs of motorsport” having not been increased in 12 years.
Hamilton was recently fined £43,600 for crossing a live track at the Qatar GP in an incident that was revisited by the FIA, but had just one request for the governing body as he hoped that the money recouped from fines would be used to help budding motorsport drivers.
“If they are going to be fining a million, let’s make sure that 100 per cent of that goes to a cause,” Hamilton reacted. “There’s a lot of money in this whole industry and there’s a lot more 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. So many causes around the world. So, yeah. That’s the only way they’ll get that million from me.”
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive F1 news.
MUST READ F1 news: Max Verstappen rejected as Lewis Hamilton made an example of[RECAP]
Currently, the money received from fines is spent using the FIA’s Development Funds. That is used to make improvements to on-track security and also train marshals, while supporting medical and crash extrication at grassroots level.
The fines are also used for grants through the Mobility Development Funds and Sport Development Fund which promote road safety initiatives and pay for the commercial rights to use the F1 name as part of a 100-year license.
- Advert-free experience without interruptions.
- Rocket-fast speedy loading pages.
- Exclusive & Unlimited access to all our content.
Don’t miss…
Lewis Hamilton tells FIA ‘do a better job’ in fiery response to Qatar mix-up[INTERVIEW]
FIA make eye-watering F1 rule change as Lewis Hamilton faces fresh punishment[LATEST]
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell given upgrade for ‘intense’ United States GP[REACTION]
Several of Hamilton’s colleagues on the grid were stunned at the recent rule change, as his team-mate George Russell – a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association – said that the new maximum fine seemed “obscene”.
“In my first year of Formula One (at Williams), I was on a five-figure salary and actually lost over six figures from paying for my trainer, paying for flights, paying for an assistant,” he revealed.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, whose team have one of the smallest F1 budgets, reacted alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. “Charles can give his watch but I would disappear, never to be found again,” he joked after Leclerc had his watch stolen last year – valued at £265,000.
Watch all the live F1 action on NOW TV for just £12 for a day.
You can enjoy Premier League, Sky Bet EFL and more thanks to Now’s Sports membership.
You can also subscribe for a month that costs £26 a month.
Source: Read Full Article