Credits: Imago/ ANP

Lewis Hamilton riding his scooter down the paddock has become an iconic view in F1. Each time the British driver takes his scooter out for a spin, the eyes of the fans and the cameras quickly go to him. The case was the same ahead of the main race at the Japanese Grand Prix. Hamilton was out for a stroll on his scooter with a fan’s camera pointed at him. As seen in the video uploaded on X, Hamilton’s race nearly ended before it even began, as he tripped on a wire, nearly falling on the ground face first.

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As Hamilton pushed his scooter, he seemingly failed to notice a cable running along the ground. The small wheels of his scooter failed to make it over the cable, tripping Hamilton in the process. Losing his balance, Hamilton quickly found his footing on the ground with the scooter tangled between his legs. Thankfully for Hamilton, nothing bad happened, owing to his quick reflexes.

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Notably, riding the scooter is banned during track walks, but using it to move around the paddock remains legal. The advent of e-bikes and scooters made track walks much more convenient for drivers. However, their use became more hectic on the tracks, especially during weekends when F2 and F3 races also had to take place. Hence, the FIA banned the use of all such vehicles during track walks.

Hamilton was right beside a Red Bull car when this happened. The team’s engineers quickly turned their gaze to Hamilton to make sure nothing bad happened. Things could’ve been much worse for Hamilton than going through a relatively embarrassing moment. Had he touched the Red Bull car so as not to fall to the ground, he could’ve become subject to a massive fine, courtesy of the latest FIA regulations.

Lewis Hamilton avoided what Max Verstappen couldn’t back in 2021

Back in 2021, Max Verstappen was subject to a massive fine by the race stewards in Brazil for a small incident. After Friday’s Sprint Session Qualifying, Verstappen went over to Hamilton’s car to inspect its rear-wing elements. He touched the wing with his hands, not knowing it would lead to a fine. Later that afternoon, the race stewards claimed Verstappen violated article 2.5.1 of the International Sporting Code. They ended up handing Verstappen a fine of $57,250 (€50,000).

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A fan footage showed Verstappen getting out of his car, taking his right glove off, and putting his hand inside the the slot gap of his car’s wing. He then moved over to the Mercedes car to repeat the process, touching the wing in two places. The stewards used the same footage to determine a fine was plenty of punishment for the Dutchman.

Since then, the FIA has increased the maximum fine limit to a whopping $1 million. The previous maximum limit was set at nearly $270,000, but the authority figured it wasn’t in tune with the latest needs of motorsports. ESPN quoted the reaction of Verstappen, who remarked, “If touching a rear wing is 50k, then I would like to know what one mill is.” Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton called for 100% of such a high amount of fine to go straight to a cause.