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The F1 penalty points system has played a major role in helping keep the driving standards under check. The entire system was first put in place in 2014 as a direct consequence of a dip in driving standards in the early 2010s. With drivers such as Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado making it a habit of getting into skirmishes, a system had to be put in place to keep the drivers in check.
As part of the system, the points are given on the basis of the severity of the transgressions. If a driver reaches 12 points, he gets banned from a race. Since the inception of this system in 2014, Kevin Magnussen is the only driver to have faced a ban.
It was imposed because the Danish driver reached 12 F1 penalty points over a 12-month period. As the circus heads to Singapore, who are the top 5 delinquents of penalty points? Let's take a look.
F1 Penalty Points: Who is close to a ban?
#5 Max Verstappen
Penalty Points: 4
Verstappen has four penalty points, with the latest coming at the Austrian GP for his collision with Lando Norris.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Norris at the 2024 F1 Austrian GP (expires on June 30, 2025)
- Two points: Forcing Charles Leclerc off track during the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix (expires on November 19, 2024)
#4 Nico Hulkenberg
Penalty Points: 4
Hulkenberg has 4 F1 penalty points.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Yuki Tsunoda at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix (expires on September 1, 2025)
- Two points: Pushing a driver off track (expires on June 29, 2025)
#3: Lance Stroll
Penalty Points: 5
Stroll has collected five F1 penalty points over the past 12 months, including two for causing a collision with Daniel Ricciardo in China.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Daniel Ricciardo at the Chinese GP (expires on April 21, 2025)
- Three points: Overtaking under yellow flag conditions at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix (expires on November 17, 2024)
#2 Fernando Alonso
Penalty Points: 8
Alonso has collected eight F1 penalty points. He was awarded a 10-second penalty and two penalty points for a collision with Zhou Guanyu at the Austrian GP.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Zhou Guanyu at the F1 Austrian GP (expires June 30, 2025)
- Three points: Pushing Carlos Sainz off the track at the F1 Chinese GP Sprint (expires April 20, 2025)
- Three points: Potentially dangerous driving against George Russell at the Australian GP (expires on March 24, 2025)
#1 Sergio Perez
Penalty Points: 8
Perez has eight F1 penalty points, tied with Logan Sargeant and Alonso, for five different violations.
- Two points: Overtaking Fernando Alonso under safety car conditions (expires on September 24, 2024)
- Two points: Causing a collision with Kevin Magnussen (expires on September 24, 2024)
- One point: Causing a collision with Alex Albon at the 2023 F1 Singapore GP (expires on September 17, 2024)
- Two points: Causing a collision with Lando Norris at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (expires November 26, 2024)
- One point: Unsafe release in pit lane at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (expires March 9, 2025)
