"Mother nature decides whether the track is wet or not. Not race control": Fans react to Ferrari getting a €5,000 fine

F1 fans reacted to Ferrari being fined €5,000 by the race stewards at the 2024 F1 Canadian GP's second practice session. The fine was imposed because Charles Leclerc was driving on intermediate tires when the race control did not declare that the track was wet.

Since F1 is an exceptionally technical sport, it runs on hundreds of rules and regulations placed by the FIA. These regulations must be followed by every team and driver on every Grand Prix weekend. If anyone breaches these regulations, the governing body can impose a penalty or a fine according to the severity of the infringement.

At the start of the FP2 session, many drivers went out on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on soft or medium tires. However, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was the only driver who went out in the intermediate tires. After just one out lap, he was requested to box, while the stewards noted Leclerc's choice of tires and stated that they would investigate it after the session.

Since the race control did not declare that the track was wet, drivers were not allowed to head out on the track on wet or intermediate tires. Due to this issue, Ferrari was later fined by the FIA for letting Leclerc out on track with the wrong set of tires.

Soon after the decision was made by the stewards, many F1 fans reacted strongly to this on the social media platform, X. While some argued that nature itself decides whether the track is wet or not, others pointed out how the race control declared that it was a wet track a few minutes after noting Leclerc's tire rule infringement.

"What a stupid rule. Mother nature decides whether the track is wet or not, not race control," one fan argued.

"Bruh," another wrote.

"Didn’t they also declare the track wet like 2 mins after this happened lol?" someone pointed out.

One fan suggested that the teams should be allowed to decide whether the track is wet enough or not.

Why can't the teams themselves decide when they want to use wet tires? I mean the teams know better about the track conditions than FIA. If a team feels it's time for intermediates then it should be allowed without waiting for some kind of approval from FIA," they opined.

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FIA official statement for why Ferrari was fined €5,000 at the Canadian GP FP1

After noting that Charles Leclerc was on intermediate tires at the start of Canadian GP FP2, the FIA later released an official infringement document where they explained why Ferrari was fined €5,000.

In the reason section, they explained that since Leclerc left the pit lane on intermediate tires when the track was not declared wet by the race control, it breached Article 30.5 l. The rule only permits teams to use wet-weather tires if the race director declares the track wet.

"The Stewards heard from the team representative and reviewed video evidence. Car 16 left the pit lane on intermediate tyres at the beginning of the session despite the fact that the track had not been declared wet and returned to the pits after one lap. This constitutes a breach of Art 30.5 l) which only permits the use of intermediate or wet weather tyres after the track has been declared wet by the race director," the document read.

In the first practice session, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc secured third place, behind his teammate Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. In the second practice session, the Monegasque secured fourth place.