There are a myriad of rules to follow in Formula 1 and, season after season, they are updated in what the FIA considers to be measures to safeguard driver safety.
Some things are self-evident, such as standard on-track procedures, but others don’t seem to be so clear to the drivers and their teams.
This first part of the season has seen some penalties that could be considered curious.
Vettel warned over his scooter ride
Sebastian Vettel is one of the big victims and his bad weekend in Australia started on the Friday.
His car broke down towards the end of the first practice session and he commandeered a marshal’s scooter.
He rode it on the track and back to the pits and was waiving at fans in the process.
The FIA later announced that it was investigating the incident. After doing so, it fined him 5,000 euros for the situation.
No more jewellery in F1
Another new feature of this season’s regulations is the tightening of the ban on wearing any kind of jewellery during the races.
Before the Australian Grand Prix, the new race director Niels Wittich made it very clear from the outset that the wearing of jewellery, including neck chains, bracelets and piercings, would be considered a breach of the rules and could have consequences.
This would directly affect Lewis Hamilton. But he is not the only one, as others wear his watches, for example.
In any case, no sanctions have been applied for this after the Briton, the most reluctant, was offered a moratorium so that he could have more time to take them off.
Leaving the drivers’ briefing
It was Vettel in the spotlight again at the Red Bull Ring, as he received a suspended fine of 25,000 euros for storming out of the drivers’ meeting, which is organised every Grand Prix week.
He got up and left “without permission” and “expressing his frustration”.
However, the FIA said in its statement that Vettel later apologised to the race director, which it extended to the other participants in the meeting.
A breach of parc ferme rules
Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton each received a suspended 10,000 euro fine after the Austrian Grand Prix, as their physios entered parc ferme before they had been weighed.
This was seen as quite an odd sanction, since similar scenes are experienced at the end of every race.
Aston Martin’s mistake in Miami
Both Lance Stroll and Vettel were forced to start from the pit lane in Miami after their team made a procedural error just before the race.
The technical regulations state that there is a minimum temperature for fuel for the start of the race, but this wasn’t followed.
Marca
