Sebastian Vettel (GER) Aston Martin F1 Team. Australian Grand Prix, Saturday 9th April 2022. Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Sebastian Vettel described his fine for riding a scooter on track in Australia as a “joke”, suggesting he wants to know where the money will be going.
Vettel was issued with a €5,000 fine on Friday after he rode a scooter on track a few minutes after the conclusion of FP1, having stopped due to an engine issue.
Vettel breached the regulation which outlines that non-authorised personnel are not permitted to enter the circuit within five minutes of the end of the session, while also not taking the designated route back to the pit lane.
Speaking on Saturday Vettel said the fine was a “joke” before turning to journalists and saying “what did you think?”
He added that “it would be good to know what happens to that money.
“We are still not aware [about] the $50,000 [fine] Max [Verstappen] had to pay for touching the rear wing,” he said, referring to the reigning champion’s financial penalty for touching Lewis Hamilton’s rear wing in Brazil.
Vettel finished qualifying in 18th position in Australia, having had only one push lap during the closing stages of Q1, following an accident in final practice.
Vettel praised Aston Martin’s mechanics for their efforts – having also had to repair Lance Stroll’s car – and conceded there is substantial work going on to understand its lack of performance.
“We get a lot of hammering from the outside and we hammer a lot on the inside as we are not where we want to be and [there are] a lot of questions,” he said.
“We know our car has more potential but we can’t get to it, we are not the only ones who suffer that kind of problem but at the end of the day the stopwatch makes the difference and we find ourselves at the back.
“We will see what we can do tomorrow, but for sure we know the next races are going to be difficult.”
Keyword: Vettel hits out at ‘joke’ fine for Australian GP infringement