Which driver has the most F1 penalty points? Is Hamilton the cleanest?
Since 2014, F1 stewards have awarded penalty points alongside standard penalties that accrue on a driver’s super licence.
Should a driver obtain 12 penalty points over a 12-month period, they will be handed a race ban.
Here’s a full rundown of how many points each F1 driver has heading into Brazil next weekend.
Zero points
Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz
Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have zero penalty points to their name.
One point
Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas’ single penalty point expires later this month (November 21). He got this for failing to slow down under yellow flags at Qatar.
Lando Norris
Lando Norris’ solitary penalty point expires on July 10, 2023 after he was penalised for track limits at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc received one penalty point for leaving the track when gaining an advantage at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix. This will expire on October 9, 2023.
Mick Schumacher
Mick Schumacher’s expires on October 23, 2023, after picking up a penalty point for exceeding track limits.
Two points
Sergio Perez
The Mexican got two penalty points for falling too far behind the Safety Car in Singapore (this will expire on October 2, 2023).
Sebastian Vettel
The retiring four-time champion has two points to his name, but as he’s retiring at the end of the year, he doesn’t need to worry about them.
Three points
Kevin Magnussen
Kevin Magnussen received two points for causing a collision with Lance Stroll in Miami (expires May 8, 2023). He picked up another point at Monza for overtaking off the track.
Four points
Fernando Alonso
Alonso got two penalty points for colliding with Gasly in Miami, one point for corner cutting and gaining an advantage, also in Miami, and one point for weaving when defending from Bottas in Canada.
George Russell
George Russell’s four penalty points came from collisions with Perez in Austria (will expire July 10, 2023) and Sainz in Austin (will expire October 23, 2023).
Zhou Guanyu
Zhou picked up one in Jeddah for going off the track and gaining an advantage. His second came in Austria for exceeding track limits in the race. He picked up two more for colliding with Schumacher in France.
Five points
Max Verstappen
All of Verstappen’s expire by the turn of the year. He received two for ignoring double-waved yellow flags in Qatar last year, before picking up a further three in Saudi Arabia for two incidents with Hamilton.
Esteban Ocon
All of Ocon’s penalty points have been collision related. Two for colliding with Schumacher in Bahrain. A further penalty point for an incident with Hamilton in Monaco. Finally, two more for contact with Tsunoda (France).
Nicholas Latifi
Nicholas Latifi’s first penalty point expires in June - this was handed out after he ignored blue flags in Baku. He received two for colliding with Zhou in Singapore, and a further two for an incident with Schumacher.
Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll received three points on his licence for incidents in Australia. He received two more for his late defensive manoeuvre against Alonso in Austin.
Six points
Daniel Ricciardo
The McLaren driver got one penalty point for impeding Ocon in Bahrain earlier this year. The second came in Miami for ‘gaining a lasting advantage’.
The remaining four came in Hungary (collision with Stroll) and Mexico (contact with Yuki Tsunoda)
Seven points
Alex Albon
Two for causing a collision with Stroll in Jeddah; one for exceeding track limits in Barcelona; One in Monaco and then two for forcing Lando Norris off at the Red Bull Ring.
He picked up another penalty point in Austin for going off the track and keeping the position.
Eight points
Yuki Tsunoda
Two of Tsunoda’s points will expire in November after colliding with Stroll at the 2021 Brazilian GP.
He also got two points for colliding with Vettel in Jeddah, while in 2022, he picked up another two for spinning teammate Gasly at Silverstone.
His final two came at Monza for now slowing down sufficiently for yellow flags.
Ten points
Pierre Gasly
Gasly is just two points away from receiving a race ban.
Collisions with Stroll and Vettel in Spain and Austria respectively resulted in four penalty points.
One point in Austria for “leaving the track without a justifiable reason multiple times”.
In recent races, he picked up two in Japan for speeding under red flag conditions, while at COTA, he fell more than 10 car lengths behind the Safety Car.
Finally, in Mexico, he went off track while overtaking Stroll, resulting in another penalty point.
With a sharp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
