Aston Martin Fined 20,000 Euros for Missing Fan Session

The FIA stewards at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix fined Aston Martin a total of 20,000 euros on Saturday for drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll missing a mandatory fan engagement session the previous day at Yas Marina Circuit.

Alonso and Stroll, along with a team representative, appeared before the stewards on Saturday morning, 75 minutes before the start of the third free practice session. The hearing addressed their absence from the Friday Fan Engagement activity, required under Article 19.2c of the Formula One Sporting Regulations. Aston Martin argued that the drivers were not expected to attend because they had not participated in the first free practice session, during which the team assigned its cars to reserve drivers Jak Crawford and Cian Shields. The stewards rejected this explanation, determining that the non-attendance resulted from a failure by the team.

In their decision, the stewards imposed a 10,000 euro fine on the team for each driver, with an additional 15,000 euros per driver suspended for 12 months, provided there is no repeat offense. The suspended portions would become payable if Aston Martin commits a similar infringement within that period. The stewards...