Revealed: The most fined drivers and teams on the F1 2023 grid

Editor
Lewis Hamilton drives his Mercedes W14 in the pitlane during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton is the most fined driver on the F1 2023 grid.

Now into the final stages of the season, here are the F1 teams and drivers who have picked up monetary fines as punishments…

While drivers and teams are pretty much always hit with sporting penalties for infringements on track during the qualifying and race sessions of a Grand Prix weekend, there are plenty of ways they can pick up fines for their team during practice.

The teams themselves also have to watch out for possible procedural breaches that could lead to hefty fines. Let’s look through all the fines that have been handed out during the 2023 F1 season so far…

The most heavily fined F1 drivers and teams during 2023

For clarity, it is the competitor (ie. team) who is hit with the fine, not the driver, even if the driver performs the infringement. Whether or not any money comes out of the driver’s pockets eventually is dependent on their situation with the team!

€100 – Pierre Gasly

  • Bahrain GP – Pitlane speeding – €100

The Alpine driver was caught for speeding in the pits during his first qualifying session with his new team, clocked at 80.6km/h to break the pitlane speed limit by 0.6km/h.

€100 – Sergio Perez

The Mexican picked up a €100 fine for doing 80.9km/h in the 80.0km/h pitlane during second practice for the British Grand Prix.

€100 – George Russell

  • Monaco GP – Pitlane speeding – €100

The Mercedes man exceeded the Monaco pitlane speed limit o 60km/h by 0.2km/h during FP2.

€200 – Fernando Alonso

  • Austrian Grand Prix – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Mexican Grand Prix – Pitlane speeding – €100

The Aston Martin driver has kept his nose clean throughout the year, with his sole transgression being a slightly quick entry to the pitlane during first practice in Austria. He was clocked at 80.9km/h in an 80 zone.

Alonso was also clocked at 80.1 km/h during a reconnaissance lap to the grid in Mexico, picking up a further €100 fine.

€800 – Zhou Guanyu

  • Monaco GP – Pitlane speeding – €300
  • Monaco GP – Pitlane speeding – €300
  • Monaco GP – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Monaco GP – Pitlane speeding – €100

The Chinese driver had a bit of a mad one during third practice in Monaco, as he decided speed limits disagreed with him. Zhou was caught speeding on four separate occasions during the session, at 63.0, 62.5, 61.0, and 60.2km/h – all above the 60km/h limit.

€1,000 – Lando Norris

  • British GP – Mechanic on track – €1000

Norris/McLaren were given a €1000 fine during third practice for the British Grand Prix, when the home hero left his garage with part of his garage still attached to the rear!

An investigation by the stewards clarified the situation: “While the car was still in pit lane, [McLaren] told the driver to stop the car.

“[Norris] stopped the car at the very first safe location which was at the end of pit lane just past the pit exit line. The Stewards noted that he was prevented from stopping earlier, prior to the pit exit line, because of photographers standing in the working area past the final team location.

“However, the team did not seek or receive permission from Race Control to have personnel on the track, nor did the mechanic seek permission of the marshal on scene. This has not happened recently in Formula 1, and in issuing a €1,000 fine the Stewards have considered in mitigation that the car was prevented from stopping before the line, and that the actions of the mechanic, while a clear breach of the regulations, were deemed safe at all times.”

 

€5,000 – Nyck de Vries

  • British GP – Unsafe release – €5000

During his final Grand Prix weekend before being dropped by Red Bull, Nyck de Vries was involved in an unsafe release during qualifying.

The Dutch driver was released from his box straight into the path of Oscar Piastri, who was driving down the pitlane at the speed limit. De Vries had to quickly change direction to move into the ‘working lane’ in order to avoid a collision. This occurrence, exacerbated by a damp surface, meant the stewards looked unfavourably on it and hit him with a fine.

PlanetF1.com recommends

F1 penalty points: Which drivers hold points on their super licence during the 2023 season?

Fastest F1 pit stops: Red Bull dominating in the pit lane as they keep stranglehold on quickest pit times

€5,000 – Kevin Magnussen

  • Hungarian GP – Procedural error – €5000

Annoyingly for Haas, they committed a procedural error on both Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen’s side of the garage, netting themselves a further €5000 penalty.

€5,100 – Alex Albon

  • Monaco GP – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Canadian GP – Procedural error – €5000

Albon picked up his first fine of the season during his laps to the grid in Monte Carlo, as he was caught doing 60.1km/h in a 60.0 pitlane, picking up a 100 euro penalty.

A few weeks later, Williams triggered a procedural fine on both of their cars during qualifying. The team forgot to return tyres to Pirelli after practice, netting themselves a 5000 euro fine on each side of the garage.

€5,200 – Carlos Sainz

  • Dutch GP – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Dutch GP – Dangerous manouevre – €5000
  • Singapore GP – Pitlane speeding – €100

His first fines of 2023, Carlos Sainz was hit with a €100 fine when he was caught at 60.5km/h in the 60km/h pitlane at Zandvoort.

More seriously, Sainz was then involved in a dangerous moment involving the McLaren of Oscar Piastri as the Ferrari driver moved across on the Australian as Sainz emerged from the pits. This forced Piastri to take evasive action by taking to the grass, with the stewards investigating following the session.

“Sainz was exiting the pits and immediately moved to the racing line before Turn 2,” they said, having hit Sainz/Ferrari with a €5000 fine.

“In doing so Piastri, who was on track, had to take avoiding action and was partially forced off track and onto the grass. In the opinion of the Stewards, this was a “Potentially Dangerous” manoeuvre, and a crash was only avoided by the actions of Piastri.

“Sainz was warned not to cross the white line at the exit of the pits, and was not warned about Piastri until he was already alongside.

“Sainz explained that he had briefly caught sight of Piastri as he was rounding turn 1 at the pit exit and gauged that Piastri was on a slow lap. From then on he did not see Piastri because of the relative angle of the cars. He also explained that he was trying to get to the drying line as quickly as possible.

“While the Stewards understand this explanation, in their opinion, Sainz rapid move to the line, while unable to see a car that he knew was in the area created a “Potentially Dangerous” situation. The Stewards also felt that the team contributed to this situation and therefore issue a team fine.”

€6,200 – Max Verstappen

  • Australian GP – Pitlane speeding – €700
  • Italian Grand Prix – Pitlane speeding – €500
  • Singapore Grand Prix – Reprimand – €5000

Red Bull were given a €500 fine after Max Verstappen exceeded the speed limit in the pitlane by 4.8km/h during FP2, and a €5,000 fine in Singapore after a second reprimand of the weekend to Verstappen following multiple impeding investigations.

€6,300 – Yuki Tsunoda

  • Azerbaijan GP – Unsafe release during Sprint – €5000
  • Monaco GP – Pitlane speeding – €1000
  • Canadian GP – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Belgian GP – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Belgian GP – Pitlane speeding – €100

Yuki Tsunoda has had quite a costly year for AlphaTauri, with the Japanese driver committing quite a few offences.

His troubles began in Azerbaijan, where AlphaTauri released his car in unsafe condition during the Sprint race. Tsunoda had damaged his car, with the right-rear tyre coming off and the rim touching the track, and had returned to the pits telling his team he didn’t think the car could continue.

Nevertheless, AlphaTauri sent him back out on fresh wheels after a quick visual check, with the suspension failing almost immediately as Tsunoda rejoined the race. Having driven slowly around to the pits, causing disruption to the race, the stewards ruled the team should have done more to check the safety of the AT04. They were fined €5000 for this.

In Monaco, Tsunoda barrelled into the Monaco pitlane at 76.2km/h with the limit set at 60.0. Tsunoda had struck the barriers at Turn 11 and was coming in for checks, and the stewards ruled the speed of his entry – particularly with unknown damage – to be dangerous. Tsunoda acknowledged he had not set the speed limiter on entry, and was fined €1000 as well as being given a warning.

Since then, Tsunoda’s speeding has been more minor. Caught at 80.4km/h during second practice in Canada, he picked up another €100 fine, before two separate €100 infringements during first practice in Belgium as he came in at 80.1km/h.

€6,800 – Lance Stroll

  • Australian GP – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Miami GP – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Miami GP – Pitlane speeding – €400
  • Canadian GP – Pitlane speeding – €1000
  • Austrian GP – Pitlane speeding – €200
  • Abu Dhabi GP – Driving unnecessarily slowly – €5000

The Canadian driver has had a busy season on the fines front, as he’d committed quite a few offences that have caught the eye of the stewards.

He was measured at an unlucky 0.1km/h over the 80km/h pitlane speed limit in Australia during FP3, picking up a €100 fine.

In Miami, he did the same as he was clocked at 80.3km/h in the pitlane during FP2 – only to do the same thing a few minutes later as he was caught at 83.5km/h and racking up another €400 fine! Easy knowing he’s not paying for it, eh?

He would be caught for a similar offence in Canada, albeit in a much more exuberant fashion as he came into the pits at 97.8km/h – almost 18km/h over the limit! That one picked Aston Martin up another €1000 fine.

He’d calmed down a bit by the time he was next caught speeding, doing a pedestrian 81.3km/h in the Austrian pitlane to add another €200 to his tab.

But the biggest fine came last, when he was caught driving unnecessarily slowly between the final two corners in practice in Abu Dhabi.

€10,000 – Mercedes

  • Spanish GP – Procedural error – €10,000

The second-largest single fine of the season so far was handed out directly to the Mercedes team in Barcelona, following a procedural error after the race.

Part of the post-race procedure, as outlined by the Race Director, is that team physios and driver assistants are not permitted in parc ferme after the chequered flag. This is to ensure there is no possibility of any sneaky little tricks being used to try bumping up the driver’s weight at any point.

But the physios for both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton entered parc ferme in Barcelona, in violation of the podium ceremony procedure.

As the International Sporting Code placed responsibility for the actions on the part of any person providing a service directly on the competitor, Mercedes were slapped with the fine.

 

€10,400 – Nico Hulkenberg

  • Hungarian GP – Procedural error – €5000
  • Austrian GP – Unsafe release – €5000 (suspended)
  • Singapore GP – Pitlane speeding – €400

Haas made a procedural error during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, in which the American squad physically returned a set of intermediate tyres to Pirelli ahead of qualifying, but failed to register it electronically.

As a breach of the Sporting Regulations, the stewards were left with no option but to penalise Haas, who were fined €5000.

The team had an incident during the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint Shootout in which Hulkenberg’s front-left tyre wasn’t cleared properly out of the way, leading the German driver to hit it as he drove away – the impact clattering his car into the air.

The stewards weren’t impressed by the unsafe release, and gave Haas a €5000 fine – although this fine is suspended on the proviso they don’t have any further unsafe releases this season.

€15,300 – Logan Sargeant

  • Monaco GP – Pitlane speeding – €200
  • Monaco GP – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Canadian GP – Procedural error – €5000
  • Singapore GP – Reprimand – €5000
  • Abu Dhabi GP – Erratic driving – €5000

It’s really not as bad as it sounds for Logan Sargeant, despite the eye-watering figure he’s racked up. The American rookie was caught speeding in the pits during FP3 in Monaco as he did 61.1km/h in a 60 zone, netting himself a €200 ticket.

He was caught speeding again a few minutes later as he did 60.1km/h in the pitlane, but the big fine handed out to Sargeant was a procedural error committed by Williams.

As explained with Albon’s penalty for the same thing, his team had failed to return tyres as required to Pirelli ahead of qualifying, with a team representative admitting the error to the stewards. It was a “team oversight for which they accepted responsibility”, earning them a €5000 fine for each car…

Sargeant also received a €5000 fine for scything across the track in Abu Dhabi with Jack Doohan approaching at speed in FP1, with the rookie shaken and avoiding the “biggest crash of my life” in the process, though Sargeant later apologised.

€20,000 – Williams

  • Mexican Grand Prix – Equipment in the pitlane – €20,000 (€10,000 suspended)

Williams picked up a hefty fine during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend, the largest single fine of the season so far, after leaving a jack out in the pitlane during qualifying, which was then struck by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. The stewards investigated, and Williams was landed with a fine after admitting to the error and apologising.

However, in better news for Williams, half of the fine has been suspended provided that a similar incident doesn’t occur over the next 12 months.

€50,700 – Lewis Hamilton

  • Austrian Grand Prix – Pitlane speeding – €100
  • Monaco Grand Prix – Pitlane speeding – €600
  • Qatar Grand Prix – Crossing the track – €50,000 (€25,000 suspended)

Hamilton was caught doing 80.2km/h, 0.2km/h over the pitlane speed limit, during first practice at the Austrian Grand Prix to earn himself a €100 fine. He followed that up in Monaco by getting caught doing 65.5 in a 60.0 pitlane during third practice, before a huge fine in Qatar for crossing the track to get back to the pit lane after his crash with George Russell.

Read more: Fastest F1 pit stops: Ferrari quickest in Mexico but McLaren record still stands