George Russell says 1million euro fines are "ridiculous" and "obscene"

Mercedes AMG F1 driver George Russell says that €1m fines are "ridiculous" and "obscene". He fired back at the FIA for the ridiculous fines they institute for fines

In the International Sporting Code for the FIA, the governing body of Formula 1 has increased the fine issued to a Formula 1 driver from €250,000 to €1m. This update has been left untouched for the last 12 years and, according to the FIA "does not reflect the current needs of motorsport." George Russell believes otherwise. The Mercedes AMG driver feels that quadrupling the fine from its original amount to the current amount was "ridiculous", given that F1 drivers just starting out in grand prix or F1 racing earn nowhere near that kind of income. Ahead of the US Grand Prix weekend in Austin, Russell said in an interview "I think it's pretty ridiculous that a driver could be fined €1m. In my first year of Formula 1, I was on a five-figure salary and actually lost over six figures in that first year from paying for my trainer, paying for flights, paying for an assistant. And that's probably the case for 25% of the grid. We're doing what we love, so we're not complaining about that. But if you take a year one driver probably by the end of the year is losing over €100,000 because of the investments he has to make, you fine them a million. What's going to happen?" Russell continued on, adding that he says the drivers asked the FIA for more transparency on what the money from the fines will go towards

When he was asked about if he thought the issue would arise again, he said "For sure. There's no doubt about it. We just want transparency and understanding. I think already the fines are getting out of control. [Max] Verstappen being fined 50,000 for touching a car. Lewis [Hamilton] being fined 50,000 [for crossing a live track in Qatar]. It feels like these numbers are being plucked out the air. When there's a lot of global issues going on and so much poverty around the world, how a federation can just make up these six, seven figure fines? We've requested before from the FIA ot hear where these fines are going toward, what causes they're going to. It needs to be reinvested into grassroots, but so far we've had no response on where that's going. If they truly believe a €1m fine is worthwhile and it's going to be reinvested into the sport, then maybe one of the drivers who's being paid a lot is happy to pay that fine. But it seems obscene."

Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen has included some comments on this. "If touching your rear wing is 50k, then I would like to know what one million is. Then maybe we can sponsor also the bottles of wines. I'll get ready..." Russell's Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton also added "When it comes to things like this, we really need to be thinking the message that that sends out to those who are watching. If they are going to be fining a million, let's make sure that 100% of that goes to a cause. There's a lot of money in this whole industry and there's a lot more that we need to do in terms of creating better accessibility, better diversity, more opportunities for people who wouldn't normally have a chance to get into a sport like this. That's the only way they'll get that million from me."