F1 drivers question the initial change in FIA regulation with regards to Appendix B and the fines involved, after reversing decision with amendments made.
Ahead of the grand prix in Emilia Romagna, the FIA shared the revised International Sporting Code’s Appendix B where the base fine was cut from 10,000 euros to 5000. It also removed fines from some head, by introducing sporting penalties for the said offences.
Additionally, there was some leeway as well for radio messages and segregation of official and unofficial media appearances. The move from the FIA happened after discussions with both F1 and WRC drivers in the last few weeks, after the two set of drivers raised their voices against the harsh penalties.
When asked about the step back taken by the FIA, the set of F1 drivers welcomed the move but raised questions about the change in the first place. It was all unnecessary to create such dramas initially, only to back down and amend the set of rules, which wasted a lot of time.
Here’s what a section of F1 drivers said –
Lewis Hamilton: “I hadn’t seen it [the changes]. I don’t know where it’s stemming from. I mean, it is ridiculous. Nothing I say is going to make a difference to it. It seems a bit of a mess there at the moment. There’s a lot of changes needed for sure. But it doesn’t really impact me.”
George Russell: “Well, I feel the [initial] changes should have never happened in the first place. So we’re talking about a situation where things have been reverted, because it was a little bit ludicrous in the first place. Of course, we’re happy to see things go back to how they should be, but it should never have been there in the first place, if that makes sense. So it feels a bit wrong to be thanking the changes, when we shouldn’t have been in that place to begin with. So yeah, it’s a bit of a strange predicament, and we’ve still had no correspondence with anyone from senior level FIA.
“So yeah, it’s all a bit suspect. Yeah, that’s a good question. It seems more challenging than it should be really. But we’ve all put our views forward, I wouldn’t say it’s gotten to a point of no return, but you at least want to see willingness from the other party. I think we feel we’ve put in our views forward, and we want to have conversations and dialogue, and there’s only so much you can ask. So, yeah, it’s got to be mutual. It’s got to come from both directions.”
Max Verstappen: “It is a positive start, I would say. I’m pleased that they realised that what they had before was probably too aggressive. Like I said, what was in there before was too aggressive. This is a start.”
Fernando Alonso: “It is better. The best thing is not to get those penalties, yeah, I think we have some guidelines, some rules that we need to respect and we will try to do our best and help FIA to give the best to future generations. There are always clear rules and there’s been clear rules in many things in the sport, especially the technical side like you cannot be underweight, you cannot do certain things. There were different rules also regarding drivers in the past 12 months and it is a little bit new but we will try not to get any penalty.”
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