After seven races this season, Formula 1 drivers have accumulated just a single penalty point, awarded to Franco Colapinto for failing to slow adequately under yellow flags at Barcelona. No further points have been handed out for on‑track incidents.
The reduced tally follows new FIA guidelines introduced before the campaign, which grant race‑stewards broader latitude to decide whether and how many points to assign. While the sporting‑penalty recommendations remain largely unchanged, the penalty‑point section has been significantly overhauled.
Drivers had been pushing for such leeway, arguing that points for collisions arising from intense racing were inappropriate.
The core rule stays: 12 points trigger an automatic race ban, as Kevin Magnussen experienced when missing the São Paulo Grand Prix in 2024.
Historically, drivers criticised the points system for penalising minor infractions or optimistic overtakes.
“Obviously driver penalty points is something that could result in a race ban,” GPDA director Carlos Sainz explained when asked by Motorsport.com. “And I think a driver should get a race ban if you’re continuously dangerous towards your competitors, towards the marshals, or you’re misbehaving towards FIA and stewards.”
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
“If those two or three things are happening, we are happy to receive penalty points, but if we are doing a little mistake on the speed limiter, we are doing track limits, which is not putting anyone in danger, we’re just… anyway you’re penalising us with race time already.
“We don’t believe penalty points should be awarded, because you’re not infringing a yellow or a red flag, you’re not endangering anyone, you’re not putting a competitor at risk, you’re not misbehaving – and that’s what we pushed forward. And so far, to be honest, the FIA have been extremely helpful with that.”
One of the biggest changes concerns causing a collision. Previously this offence carried three points alongside a sporting penalty. Under the new system, stewards may award between zero and three points, based on severity. A case in point was China, where Esteban Ocon received a 10‑second time penalty for his clash with Colapinto but no points. The updated guidelines also state: “Penalty points for causing [a collision] should be adjusted based on the severity of the incident caused.”
Another notable adjustment relates to forcing another driver off the track. Unless deemed “reckless”, the move no longer incurs points, down from two previously. Ignoring blue flags follows the same trend: the new guidance recommends no points, compared with one or two under the prior regime.
However, when stewards judge a collision was caused with “apparent deliberate or reckless intent”, the driver still receives four points, matching the previous standard.
Rui Marques, FIA Race Director
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images
According to Sainz, the FIA has been receptive to the changes. He praised the improved communication, saying the trust level now matches that enjoyed under former race director Charlie Whiting.
“I think we were all insisting in briefings, and obviously conversations were held, and also since the arrival of Rui [Marques, the current F1 race director] the team and the set‑up there now within the FIA is the most collaborative set of people I’ve worked with since Charlie. And it’s honestly running quite smoothly and quite well, and I feel like I can just tell they listen to us a lot, and honestly we are now in a good place with them.
“Sometimes we bother them too much, sometimes they bother us a bit too much, but it’s like a typical relationship, but I must say it’s smooth right now, it’s a good relationship.”
Happier Bearman
Oliver Bearman, who spent much of last season close to a race ban and currently leads the penalty‑points table with eight, welcomed the new approach. He said the previous system discouraged aggressive racing.
“All of us were kind of having the same mindset… you should be penalised for doing mistakes, but this kind of penalty point system and the way that they were being dished out so freely in previous years was not really incentivising us to try anything, to race.
“And if we want to have a spectacle, have a race, let us try to overtake, knowing that if you mess it up, you’re going to be penalised. But you’re not going to lose out on a race later in the year potentially for that, which is good.”
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Bearman received four points at Silverstone last year for a red‑flag pit‑lane incident during practice. The stewards deemed his manoeuvre dangerous, and he accepted the sanction.
“I did a really silly mistake in Silverstone,” he said, “and if that happens again to anyone, they will receive the same amount of penalty points because that’s a dangerous move.”
He also mentioned a contact incident at Monza where both he and Carlos Sainz were penalised, but later the drivers and stewards agreed he should not have received a point.
“Actually, later on in the year, all the drivers and the stewards agreed that I shouldn’t have got a penalty, and if anything, it should have been the other car. I got a penalty point for that, and so, you know, that type of scenario seems a bit unfair, but, of course, if you do something dangerous, then you should be penalised in terms of penalty points.”
