Lewis Hamilton has been fined for refusing to attend the end-of-season gala to celebrate Max Verstappen’s world title win.
The seven-times world champion did not show up at the glittering bash in Paris after he and his Mercedes team felt they were robbed by a controversial decision in the last lap of the Abu Dhabi finale. Hamilton has now confirmed he will have to pay a financial penalty for his no-show at the awards night... but that it will go to a cause.
He met with new FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix and announced: “There will be some sort of fine re. the gala but we have worked together to make sure that the money will be put towards youth from underprivileged backgrounds getting into motorsports engineering.” Formula One protocols demand the top three drivers in the final standings turn up to the prize-giving in Paris to receive their award.
