Sebastian Vettel Questions the FIA on Futile F1 Fines – “What Happened to €50,000 That Max Had to Pay…”

The start of the 2022 season is no less than a disaster for Sebastian Vettel. Even though the German driver made a comeback in Australia post-Covid, it wasn’t enough to let him have a good outing at Albert Park. As the Aston Martin driver has been fined for riding a scooter, he calls it a joke.

Vettel has been out of the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia after being positive for Coronavirus. As he came back, the former Red Bull driver had adversity waiting for him on the track as smoke came out of his AMR-22 during the first free practice in Melbourne.

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The incident prevented the four-time world champion from continuing FP1. With the damage done to his car, Seb couldn’t return for FP2, either. Amid all this, as the FP1 concluded, Vettel rode a moped he borrowed from a Marshall to return to the pit.

Subsequently, the FIA fined him €5000 for not following the safety guidelines. When asked to comment on the fine by a journalist and know if this is a joke, Sebastian conveyed, as reported by The Race, “Yeah. It would be good to know what happens to that money. We are still not aware what happened to €50,000 or whatever that Max [Verstappen] had to pay for touching a rear wing.”

To take note of Max Verstappen’s situation, the Dutchman had to pay a hefty fine of €50,000 for touching Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes’s rear wing last year in Brazil. The defending F1 champion joked that FIA can use them to have a good dinner and wine.

How did the Australian Grand Prix turn out for Sebastian Vettel?

To call it a catastrophe for the former Red Bull man would be an understatement. The man from Germany crashed his car against the wall in FP3 again when he took his AMR-22 out for an out-lap. In addition, the Aston Martin driver was also asked to pay €600 for speeding in the pit lane.

Had there been no Nicholas Latifi and Lance Stroll clash, Vettel’s return in Q1 would have been in jeopardy. The Brilliant work from the Silverstone-based team mechanics got the car ready just in time to take part in the dying minutes of qualifying. Although Seb made it to the track, he could only manage P18.

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But let’s not give up hope on him just yet. Vettel is known to be good at fighting through the field. In fact, last year, he took home the Crypto.com Overtake Award with a surreal 132 overtakes throughout the season.