Max Verstappen has more penalty points than F1 title rivals
Max Verstappen will be treading a disciplinary tightrope if he transgresses at any of the upcoming Formula 1 races.
Drivers are handed penalty points if they commit an offence during a race weekend and Verstappen has seven points from four separate incidents on his record. The Dutch driver has two points for causing his collision with Lewis Hamilton at last year’s Italian Grand Prix and he picked up three further penalties in 2021, firstly for failing to respect double yellow flags during qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix (two points).
He was then in trouble twice at last year's contentious Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, picking up one point for leaving the track and gaining an advantage and a further two for causing another collision with Hamilton when he was deemed to have braked too heavily in front of the Mercedes driver during a safety car.
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Points stay on a driver’s record for 12 months following the incident, so Verstappen’s tally will not start to come down until September 12, the anniversary of his Monza clash with Hamilton. If he reaches 12 points between now and then he will be hit with an immediate race ban. There are six races before that date in Austria, France, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.
Lance Stroll is also on seven points with Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda next up on six. Hamilton has two points on his record after being deemed to have caused the collision with Verstappen at last year’s British Grand Prix, although those points will expire following this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
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F1 penalty points as follows:
Seven points: Max Verstappen, Lance Stroll
Six points: Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda
Four points: Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasley, Alex Albon
Three points: Valtteri Bottas
Two points: Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen
One point: George Russell, Sergio Perez, Nicholas Latifi, Zhou Guanyu
No points: Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher.
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