Formula 1 drivers are at a greater risk of incurring race bans as stewards are issuing far more penalty points in 2024 compared to last year.
Stewards handed out just two penalty points over the first five races of last year. They issued 18 over the same period this season, a nine-fold increase.
The majority of those came at last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. Five drivers received penalties which put a total of 11 penalty points on their licence. Any driver who collects 12 penalty points over a 12-month period received an automatic one-race ban.
The majority of the penalty points have been issued for incidents in which one driver collided with another. The FIA stewards are enforcing new guidelines this year which have toughened up their enforcement of the rules. This came partly in response to drivers pointing out that the five-second time penalties issued for some infringements were often too lenient.
The spate of penalties issued in recent races has left several drivers worryingly close to a ban. Logan Sargeant, one of those penalised last weekend, is now on eight penalty points. If he collects four more between now and the Italian Grand Prix in September – 11 rounds including two more sprint races – he will receive an automatic penalty.
Sergio Perez is in an even more perilous position having reached eight penalty points at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He won’t have any points deducted from his licence for another 12 rounds.
The driver who has felt the wrath of the stewards most keenly this year is Fernando Alonso. In the space of three rounds he has gone from having a clean licence to halfway towards a ban, due to a pair of three-point sanctions.
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The first was his hotly-debated penalty for slowing abruptly in front of George Russell on the penultimate lap in Australia, leading to the Mercedes driver’s crash. The second came in last weekend’s sprint race where he tangled with Carlos Sainz Jnr as he attempted to re-pass the Ferrari driver in turn nine.
“Obviously, I [do] not agree,” said Alonso when asked about his latest penalty, “but they have all the power to do what they think is is right and we have to accept it and move on.”
But he and other drivers nearing the 12-point limit will have to keep in mind the stewards’ resolve to clamp down on incidents in races whenever they find…
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