Carlos Sainz Jnr put himself at risk of incurring a further fine from the FIA after he was told to pay a €10,000 (£8,500) sanction last weekend.
The Williams driver was fined €20,000, half of which was suspended, for arriving late to the pre-race performance of the national anthem at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Fines for swearing and other infringements are a major bone of contention between drivers and the FIA. Two months ago Sainz became a director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association which has challenged FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s insistence on fining drivers for swearing.
Sainz deliberately put himself at risk of a further fine by swearing when asked for his views on his fine during the official FIA pre-race press conference at Suzuka today.
“I don’t know if I’m going to get another fine for saying this, but shit happens,” said the Williams driver.
In January the FIA announced any F1 driver who commits acts of “misconduct”, which includes swearing, will be fined €40,000 for their first offence. Lesser fines are applied in other categories: In February, World Rally Championship driver Adrian Fourmaux was fined €30,000, €20,000 of which was suspended, for using the word “fucked” while being interviewed at the Rally of Sweden.
The Japanese Grand Prix stewards noted a much higher fine was stipulated for Sainz’s late attendance at the national anthem performance. They reduced the standard €60,000 fine after accepting his explanation that a stomach complaint delayed his arrival.
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However Sainz was deeply unimpressed he was fined at all. “I’m the biggest supporter of punctuality and being in a way a gentleman being punctual to things, especially a national anthem with all the authorities there,” he said. “So I was the first one to put my hand up and ‘I’m late, I’m sorry for that’.
“At the same time, I was five seconds late. And to be five seconds late and have to pay 10,000 euros, for me it is out of the question that we’re having to pay these fines.”
He reiterated the drivers’ stance that the FIA should explain what the money it raises from fines is used for. “I hope, as I always said, I hope someone tells me where this 10K goes and they say, okay, at least it went for a nice cause and I will be looking forward to see where it goes.”
This article will be updated
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