Two F1 Drivers Punished by FIA for Rule Breach Ahead of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Two Formula 1 drivers have been punished by the FIA for a rule breach ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The final race of the F1 season goes down on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri compete in a three-way showdown in a title decider, with plenty of permutations on the cards.
Ahead of the race, the FIA stepped in and summoned Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll to see the stewards for a rule breach.
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Alonso and Stroll were investigated by the FIA after failing to appear at a fan engagement activity on Friday.
Aston Martin were hit with a fine of $25,000 ($15,000 of which was suspended) for each of the breaches after a review from the stewards.
The stewards' report read: "The Stewards heard from the team representatives and the driver who advised that he had been told by the team that because he was not required for driving duties during FP1, he would not be required at the Fan Engagement activity and that instead, a reserve and/or other driver representing the team, would attend.
"Whilst acknowledging the obligation to appear is sometimes inconvenient to drivers, especially in cases such as this where there was a 5-hour period between the Fan Engagement and FP2, the Stewards also acknowledge that fans are the core of Formula 1 and the importance of this is recognised by the FIA through the inclusion of Article 19 in its Formula 1 Sporting Regulations."
Aston Martin reacted to the rule breach with a classy offer to make amends, stating that they promised to 'attend the fan zone this weekend and give signed team caps to all fans wearing Aston Martin apparel and to select 2 fans for a garage tour, view a session from the garage and meet both drivers for a photo opportunity'.
Aston Martin head into the final race of the season in seventh place in the constructors' championship.
They have 80 points on the board, 12 points behind Racing Bulls.
Alonso, who is 12th in the drivers' championship, shared his reflection on the season ahead of Sunday's race at the Yas Marina Circuit.
"It has been a testing year," he said. "On a personal level, I've tried to perform at my best every weekend and to extract everything from the car.
"There were moments of strong pace, and we had weekends where things felt more promising, but overall, the competitiveness this year wasn't where we wanted it to be. As a team, we've had to deal with challenges - sometimes related to reliability, sometimes performance – and for a project with big ambitions like ours, that's been hard.
"But I also believe this year has been important: we've learned where things need to improve, and also a great deal around optimising all the fantastic resources we have at our disposal – all of this can only be a good thing.
"Success in F1 is not easy to achieve; there are ups and downs along the way. And sometimes the difficult seasons are the ones that lay the foundations for future success."
Topics: Formula 1, Fernando Alonso
Nasir Jabbar