What are Penalty points?
Formula 1 drivers accumulate penalty points for various misdemeanors during a race weekend. The more severe the infraction, the more penalty points a driver will receive. One of the most common offense is speeding in the pit lane, but other offenses can include crossing the white line at the end of the pit lane, driving unnecessarily slowly on track, and causing a collision. Points are added to a driver's total after each race, and if they reach 12 points they are automatically banned from participating in the next race. After the race ban, penalty points resets to 0.
Who last received a race ban?
In 2012, Romain Grosjean has been given a one-race ban after causing the first-corner crash at the Belgian Grand Prix. But again, he also had 7 first lap crashes in 12 races that season. Watch all the onboards of the incident here.
Quite recently in Baku this year, F2 driver Amaury Cordeel received a race ban after his 12th penalty point in his debut season.
Canadian GP
During the Canadian GP, Fernando Alonso received a penalty point after the race when the FIA stewards noted Fernando was weaving on the straights to defend against Valterri. This was the second time after Miami GP this year, the Spaniard received penalty points for ‘More than one change of direction to defend a position’.
Romain Grosjean disagrees with the penalty since ‘the straight is not straight, so it’s not easy to go straight’. What do you think?
Full list of penalty points with details is available here (it’s a spreadsheet)
One thing is for certain, this year the stewards are strict and applying the rules frequently. If you cause a collision you almost always receive 2 penalty points, unless both drivers are at fault. This may seem harsh, but it is necessary to ensure that all drivers are held accountable for their actions on track.
Last year there were several incidents where drivers collided with each other without receiving any penalties. This caused a lot of confusion and made it difficult to determine who was at fault in each incident. By enforcing the rules strictly, we can avoid these situations and make sure that everyone is playing by the same set of rules.
‘Life as a Ferrari driver’
Penalty points per driver and drivers closest to race ban.