News Flash: Lewis Hamilton faces FIA sanctions for breaking a rule that all Formula One drivers must follow.

The FIA has many regulations that drivers in Formula 1 must abide by, but Lewis Hamilton, the ever gregarious one, is no stranger to breaking some of the less important ones.

If Lewis Hamilton keeps missing the annual FIA Prize Gala at the end of the season, he will be fined again.

The top three drivers in the Formula 1 standings are required by FIA rules to attend the glitzy event. With just one race left, Hamilton is already certain to finish third this season because Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso are currently too far behind to catch up. Hamilton will therefore need to travel to Baku for the event next month in accordance with the regulations.

Should he fail to comply, he will face the same consequences as when he declined to appear in 2021. That occurred following the contentious season-ending race in which Max Verstappen unexpectedly won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It took Hamilton a long time to forgive the FIA after race director Michael Masi mishandled a late safety car period, giving the Red Bull driver the victory.

He later specified that the cash would go to a good cause. “There will be some sort of fine re: the gala,” he said. “But we’ve worked together to make sure that the money will be put towards youths from underprivileged backgrounds [to help] them get into motorsport engineering.”

Hamilton also skipped last year’s event. That meant he was not in Bologna to receive the Action of the Year award, given to the Mercedes ace for his spectacular double overtake on Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez at the 2022 British Grand Prix.

However, he was under no requirement to appear, thus he was not penalized at that particular instance. Perez and Leclerc were the ones required to accompany Verstappen at the ceremony, since Hamilton finished merely sixth in the drivers’ standings during a miserable season for Mercedes.

Hamilton would often classify his seventh-place performance at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as a bad one. However, the British driver was in high spirits following a race that, although plagued by numerous misfortunes, he nevertheless found enjoyable.

“I’m really happy to have had a positive race and I’m really grateful that the race was so good,” he stated. “I’m not sure how entertaining that was to watch, although there was a lot of overtaking. It was superior to Baku.

“I honestly didn’t think the track would be this amazing, but as I completed more and more laps, I found that I truly enjoyed racing. Many excellent opportunities to overtake. I believe Vegas disproved everyone who was so pessimistic about the weekend, saying things like “it’s all about the show,” etc.”