Which rule violations in the 2024 Formula season resulted in the highest fines and which drivers and teams were responsible for them
A careless comment by Yuki Tsunoda earned the Racing Bulls driver the heaviest fine of the year in the 2024 Formula 1 season: After an incident with Sauber man Guanyu Zhou in the pit lane, Tsunoda had blurted into his radio in Austria, “these guys are damn retarded.” And this violation of the International Sports Code of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) cost him dearly.
The stewards imposed a fine of 40,000 euros, with half of it suspended on probation in case Tsunoda made a similar statement again – which, however, did not happen. He was therefore fined 20,000 euros, the highest individual sanction of the year.
Second place went to Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who was fined 25,000 euros, half of which was also suspended. In the end, the Spaniard had to pay 12,500 euros for crossing the track without permission in the third qualifying segment in Singapore after his crash.
McLaren driver Lando Norris received the third-highest driver fine: He had started in Brazil despite the fact that he should have remained stationary. And because the other drivers followed Norris’ example, an additional formation lap was necessary. This cost Norris €5,000, with no probation.
The biggest fines for Formula 1 teams in 2024
On the part of the Formula 1 teams, the top three fines of the year are all due to obstructions in free practice. One particularly serious case of obstruction takes the top spot here: Red Bull Friday driver Isack Hadjar was in the way of McLaren’s Norris in the opening session at Silverstone to such an extent that Norris had to brake and leave the track to avoid a collision.
Because this incident was “much more serious” than similar incidents, the stewards fined Red Bull 20,000 euros. This was coupled with the comment that the team should have informed Hadjar of the approaching Norris, which Red Bull even admitted.
Also in the first free practice session at Silverstone, Aston Martin was fined 15,000 euros because Lance Stroll had blocked Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Another 15,000 euros were handed out in the second free practice session in Saudi Arabia after Lewis Hamilton had dawdled in front of Williams man Logan Sargeant. “If he hadn’t swerved, there would have been a serious crash at high speed,“ the stewards ruled.
”Unsafe release” costs the teams a lot of money
Not only on the race track, but also in the pit lane, there were incidents that resulted in particularly heavy fines. McLaren’s so-called unsafe release by Oscar Piastri in front of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Monza qualifying, for example, cost McLaren €10,000. For a similar incident with Pierre Gasly in China – including a loose wheel – Alpine also had to fork out €10,000.
And Tsunoda appears again in our list: At the Canadian Grand Prix, he was late for the national anthem. Racing Bulls later admitted that they had failed to send Tsunoda off in time. The FIA fined them 10,000 euros for this.
Perez was the fastest in the pit lane speed trap
Red Bull got off relatively cheaply with a 1,000 euro fine for Sergio Perez. In Imola, the Mexican exceeded the pit lane speed limit of 80 km/h by 9.8 km/h in the first free practice session, more than any other driver in the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Meanwhile, Stroll in Monaco and Tsunoda in Brazil were responsible for the slightest violation at the pit lane “speed trap”, both by 0.2 km/h: cost: 100 euros each.
In total, the stewards imposed fines of 236,500 euros in 2024. However, due to some suspended sentences, the full amounts did not have to be paid in some cases.
