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And by hefty, we actually mean a minuscule 100 euros. That equates to around 109 USD, pocket change for any F1 team or Sir Hamilton himself, but actually pretty steep from a price-to-speed perspective.
As reported by Crash.net, it went down during practice for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix practice, where the Mercedes-piloting Briton was clocked driving at 80.2 kilometers an hour through the pitlane. That’s 0.2 kilometers above the limit. For context, a sloth, the world’s slowest known mammal, can move at 1.6 kilometers per hour.
Mercedes wasn’t the only team fined for this infraction, either, as Fernando Alonso was caught in the act raging up to 0.8 kilometers an hour over the limit around the same time. Maniac!
Joking aside, rules are rules, and what good is any rule—especially one concerning safety—if they all aren’t thoroughly enforced? Plus, there used to not be a speed limit, which is wild to think about.
But still, it seems like an awfully small amount. According to Crash.net, the fine is 100 euros per km over the limit and only goes up to 1,000 euros. This begs the question: What happens if racers non-figuratively turn it up to 11 (or higher) and blitz through with reckless abandon? Is it still just 1,000 euros, or could the FIA lay down la loi and penalize even harder?
On the flip side, I mentioned above that it’s pretty hefty when you think about it—imagine if similar fee structures translated to street driving. In certain cases, I bet it’d be welcome, like sticking it to the assholes out there who don’t obey school zone limits. Although, in that case, I don’t think I’m alone in saying that starting at 100 in local currency, and then not capping it at all per mile/kilometer over, wouldn’t be a bad idea.
