Formulation 1 drivers are at a larger danger of incurring race bans as stewards are issuing way more penalty factors in 2024 in comparison with final 12 months.
Stewards handed out simply two penalty factors over the primary 5 races of final 12 months. They issued 18 over the identical interval this season, a nine-fold enhance.
The vast majority of these got here finally weekend’s Chinese language Grand Prix. 5 drivers acquired penalties which put a complete of 11 penalty factors on their licence. Any driver who collects 12 penalty factors over a 12-month interval acquired an computerized one-race ban.
The vast majority of the penalty factors have been issued for incidents wherein one driver collided with one other. The FIA stewards are imposing new pointers this 12 months which have toughened up their enforcement of the foundations. This got here partly in response to drivers stating that the five-second time penalties issued for some infringements have been typically too lenient.
The spate of penalties issued in current races has left a number of drivers worryingly near a ban. Logan Sargeant, a kind of penalised final weekend, is now on eight penalty factors. If he collects 4 extra between now and the Italian Grand Prix in September – 11 rounds together with two extra dash races – he’ll obtain an computerized penalty.
Sergio Perez is in an much more perilous place having reached eight penalty factors on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He received’t have any factors deducted from his licence for one more 12 rounds.
The motive force who has felt the wrath of the stewards most keenly this 12 months is Fernando Alonso. Within the area of three rounds he has gone from having a clear licence to midway in direction of a ban, because of a pair of three-point sanctions.
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The primary was his hotly-debated penalty for slowing abruptly in entrance of George Russell on the penultimate lap in Australia, resulting in the Mercedes driver’s crash. The second got here in final weekend’s dash race the place he tangled with Carlos Sainz Jnr as he tried to re-pass the Ferrari driver in flip 9.
“Clearly, I [do] not agree,” mentioned Alonso when requested about his newest penalty, “however they’ve all the facility to do what they suppose is is true and we’ve to simply accept it and transfer on.”
However he and different drivers nearing the 12-point restrict may have to remember the stewards’ resolve to clamp down on incidents in races every time they discover themselves in a wheel-to-wheel battle.
No F1 driver has ever been banned for reaching this restrict. Nonetheless it has occurred in different classes which have the identical guidelines. Two Formulation 2 drivers collected bans this fashion throughout 2022 and one other did in 2019.
The closest any F1 driver has come to receiving a ban on this approach is Pierre Gasly, who reached 10 factors on the finish of 2022. He averted amassing any penalty factors for his collision with group mate Esteban Ocon at Melbourne final 12 months, at which era he was two factors away from a ban, and by at the moment’s requirements would absolutely have been in rather more hassle.
Drivers who’ve collected penalty factors in 2024
DriverEventSessionInfringementPenaltyPenalty pointsSergio PerezSaudi ArabiaGrand prixUnsafe release5 second time penalty1Kevin MagnussenSaudi ArabiaGrand prixCollision with Alexander Albon10 second time penalty3Fernando AlonsoAustraliaGrand prixCausing an incidentDrive-through penalty3Fernando AlonsoChinaSprint raceCausing an incident with Carlos Sainz Jnr10 second time penalty3Kevin MagnussenChinaGrand prixCollision with Yuki Tsunoda10 second time penalty2Lance StrollChinaGrand prixCollision with Daniel Ricciardo10 second time penalty2Logan SargeantChinaGrand prixOvertook Nico Hulkenberg beneath Security Automobile conditions10 second time penalty2Daniel RicciardoChinaGrand prixOvertook Nico Hulkenberg beneath Security Automobile conditionsGrid drop: 3 places2
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2024 Chinese language Grand Prix
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