F1 champion calls for major change to FIA punishments

The FIA have been questioned over their use of fines in F1 after an interesting discussion between 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve and Sky Sports commentator David Croft.

The duo returned as part of Sky F1's rotating lineup for the broadcast from Zandvoort at the weekend, where plenty of on-track action kept the pundits and stewards busy.

Saturday morning's FP3 ended in chaos ahead of qualifying, with Yuki Tsunoda striking a nerve with Kimi Antonelli and Lance Stroll, with the latter labelling the Red Bull driver an 'idiot' for driving too slowly on the racing line.

Prior to this, George Russell and Fernando Alonso had a nail-biting near-miss as the Aston Martin star came into the pits, with the incident prompting the Sky Sports commentators to debate whether the FIA should introduce harsher penalties.

On Friday at Zandvoort, McLaren star Oscar Piastri picked up a €5,000 fine for an incident in the pit-lane, and prior to Saturday's qualifying, the FIA announced a €7,500 fine to Mercedes and a warning to Russell. for the incident with Alonso.

Do FIA fines have a place in F1?

Villeneuve highlighted his issue with the use of fines in the sport, saying: "The salaries have gone up, shouldn’t the fines go up?"

Crofty then added: "That was tried at the start of the season, ‘we’re going to have four times the fine for the top grade drivers', before Villeneuve continued, questioning the FIA’s use of fines.

"I don’t understand financial fines, what’s the purpose, what does it do to a driver, why does he care?"

Crofty chimed in, agreeing with the champion's sentiment, declaring: "I think for pit-lane infringements where the rules are in place to protect those in the pit lane, where it’s all about safety, a fine is not always the right punishment."

Earlier this season, Williams star Carlos Sainz picked up a €20,000 fine at the Japanese GP for failing to arrive on time for the pre-race national anthem, with €10,000 of that set to be suspended should he not breach the same rule within a 12-month period.

Despite citing a medical issue for his late arrival, Sainz's fine was not amended, leading the driver to label the FIA's decision 'disappointing'.

At the time, the Spaniard also called out F1's governing body over their use of fines, saying: "As I always said, I hope someone tells me where this 10k goes and I can say at least it went for a nice cause, and I will be looking forward to see where they go."

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