F1 team hit by FINE after drivers go AWOL

Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll's absence at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has resulted in a hefty F1 fine for Aston Martin.

Both drivers were called to meet the stewards before FP3 on Saturday, after they failed to attend a fan-engagement activity at Yas Marina, a breach of Article 19.2(c) of the FIA Formula 1 Sporting Regulations.

The regulation reads: "Within a one hour period finishing no later than one and a half hours prior to the scheduled start of P1, 10 drivers must be available for fan engagement activities for a maximum period of 30 minutes each (this window includes the time required to travel to and return from the fan activity) within the one hour period."

The FIA’s stewards have since fined Aston Martin €50,000 (including both drivers) of which €35,000 is suspended for a period of 12 months.

Alonso and Stroll were told by the team they were not required for driving duties during FP1, being replaced by rookies Jak Crawford and Cian Shields for the session, nor for the fan engagement activity which they were told a reserve or another driver would instead attend.

€25,000! Why such a hefty fine?

Whilst the stewards acknowledged that appearing at these events is sometimes inconvenient to drivers, the stewards also maintained that fans are ‘the core of F1’.

The stewards also noted that many fans had waited for several hours in the heat to see the drivers at the fan engagement event.

A fine was imposed on Aston Martin, who were deemed at fault for the failure, and the stewards recommended that the proceeds of this fine be allocated at the FIA’s discretion, to the 'encouragement of fans in this region to become involved in motorsport as officials or by engaging in grassroots motorsport activities.'

Aston Martin then proposed that they attend the fan zone this weekend and give signed team caps to all fans wearing Aston Martin merchandise and select two fans for a garage tour, to view a session from the garage and meet Alonso and Stroll for a photo opportunity.

The stewards require a report from Aston Martin to prove they have implemented this proposal, and as a result, have decided to suspend the majority of the penalty.

When the news of this penalty broke during FP3 in Abu Dhabi, Sky Sports commentator David Croft was perplexed why a fine for not attending a fan event was higher than a fine for an unsafe release - with Mercedes having released Kimi Antonelli early and into the path of Yuki Tsunoda during the session, which caused a collision.

F1 HEADLINES: McLaren pull out of Abu Dhabi media duties as driver slams ‘unacceptable’ team orders

Related