Race promoters at the Circuit of the Americas have been handed a €500K fine by the FIA following a track invasion at the end of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
A group of 200 people from the start/finish straight grandstand, climbed under the debris facing and onto the track while cars were completing their cooldown laps on Sunday.
This action directly contradicts Article 12.2.1.h of the 2024 FIA International Sporting Code: “failure to take reasonable measures thus resulting in an unsafe situation.”
Given that F1 cars and spectators are potent ingredients that shouldn’t mix on track, the stewards heard from Regan Holley and Jake Woese representing the race promoters, Tim Mayer from US Race Management and Nikolas Tombazis, Tim Malyon, and Niels Wittich of the FIA.
“In view of the severity of the incursion, a fine of €500,000 is imposed on the Promoter,” came the stewards verdict.
“The Stewards note that the Safety Plan for the allowance of the public onto the track, was actually well implemented.
“However notwithstanding, the incursion occurred due to the failure to identify a potential incursion area that was not addressed in that Safety Plan.”
COTA must take action following US GP track invasion
This isn’t the first track invasion of this nature in 2024, with the Canadian Grand Prix promoters falling foul of breaching Article 12.2.1.h of the 2024 FIA International Sporting Code in June.
In COTA’s 12-year history of hosting F1, this is its first breach of this kind, and as such, “€350,000 of the fine is suspended until December 31 2026 on the basis that between now and that date, there are no further track incursions at this circuit during any FIA Championship Event.”
Moreover, the COTA race promoters have until the end of 2024 to submit a plan to the FIA outlining how they will prevent further track invasions and assess whether there are any other potential weak points in the circuit’s security.
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