British driver Lewis Hamilton was clocked going at 80.2kph through the pitlane during practice runs for the Austrian GP and will be fined $109.
This may seem like chump change for a millionaire F1 champion and that’s because it is, although it does fairly reflect how little Hamilton infringed on the limit.
The speed limit was 80kph, meaning Hamilton only went 0.2kph above it – for context a sloth is capable of moving at 1.6 kilometres per hour.
Mercedes was not the only team caught on the bad side of the FIA, with Fernando Alonso being handed a fine for going 0.8kph above the limit.
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Many jokes have been made on social media about how little Hamilton and Mercedes will care about this fine.
Lewis Hamilton recently showed off his private garages in a press tour, displaying a collection of supercars and hypercars worth an estimated 13 million pounds.
One of his most expensive vehicles is the Mercedes-AMG Project One, a flagship vehicle from the Silver Arrows which cost £2m alone.
The Championship world record holder owns a host of eye-catching vehicles.
These include the Ferrari LaFerrari, a 1966 Shelby Cobra 427, a 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, and the McLaren P1.
Basically, the small amount of the fee has raised eyebrows – it is neither an effective deterrent for millionaires nor well-deserved in this case.
It does, however, raise an interesting question about the FIA’s rules on racers’ speeding during practice runs.
For instance, if a racer blitzed through a pitlane at 100kph would they be fined the same amount as Hamilton or does the fee increase exponentially?
READ: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll penalised by the FIA
Some have suggested starting at 100 units of local currency, and then not capping it at all per mile/kilometer over.
This would mean the worse the infraction, the heavier the duty paid.
While Lewis Hamilton’s minor infraction seems laughable, F1 drivers do use the fastest cars in the world and regulations on them speeding in non-race scenarios should be taken seriously.