Drivers' penalty points overview | Verstappen and Gasly lead

F1's new penalty point system is designed to ensure that drivers behave on the track. Penalty points are awarded for infractions and the number depends on the severity of the incident. When a driver has accumulated 12 penalty points over a 12-month period, he is banned from racing. So far, no F1 driver has accumulated enough penalty points. Only in Formula 2 was a driver recently banned for collecting 12 penalty points in six races.

Verstappen with most penalty points

Max Verstappen has been at the top of the penalty points league table for a while now. The Dutchman currently has seven penalty points, but these will expire during the rest of the season. Verstappen therefore does not really have to worry about a race ban. Team-mate Sergio Perez has just one penalty point on his licence, but it expires in September.

Pierre Gasly is the one who does need to be careful. The Frenchman has accumulated seven penalty points, just like Verstappen. Two of these points will expire in October, while the others will not expire until 2023. The AlphaTauri driver will therefore have to avoid as many incidents as possible.

Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso and Alexander Albon will also have to pay attention. The four drivers currently have six penalty points and are therefore half way through a race ban. However, the majority of their points do not expire until 2023, and we are only half way through the 2022 season. Lance Stroll has five penalty points, two of which already expire in September.

Drivers without penalty points

Many drivers received penalty points for exceeding track limits after the Austrian Grand Prix. Several time penalties were handed out in the race to drivers who went over the limit more than three times, including Sebastian Vettel and Lando Norris.

Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Mick Schumacher are doing well. The four drivers currently have zero penalty points on their licences. Hamilton had two penalties for causing a crash with Verstappen at the 2021 British Grand Prix, but these have now expired. Below is a summary of all the drivers' penalty points.

Max Verstappen - seven penalty points

Pierre Gasly - seven penalty points

Esteban Ocon - six penalty points

Fernando Alonso - six penalty points

Alexander Albon - six penalty points

Yuki Tsunoda - six penalty points

Lance Stroll - five penalty points

Daniel Ricciardo - four penalty points

Guanyu Zhou - four penalty points

George Russell - two penalty points

Kevin Magnussen - two penalty points

Sergio Perez - one penalty point

Valtteri Bottas - one penalty point

Lando Norris - one penalty point

Sebastian Vettel - one penalty point

Nicholas Latifi - one penalty point