F1 drivers' penalty points: Who is close to a race ban?

Japanese Grand Prix

F1 drivers' penalty points: Who is close to a race ban?

Which F1 driver is close to receiving a race ban?

Yara Elshebiny

Monday 8 April 2024 12:27

Here's how many penalty points each F1 driver has following the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Sunday's race at Suzuka saw a clean run for all drivers, as no points were added to any FIA Super Licences.

This comes after a dramatic race in Australia two weeks ago, where Fernando Alonso's clean run came to an end after a year without penalty points.

Article continues under video

Stewards deemed his driving in front of George Russell on lap 57 to be 'dangerous,' handing him a 20-second time penalty. This dropped Alonso from a hard-fought sixth place finish to eighth in the final classification.

The incident, which occurred near the exit of turn 6, also resulted in three penalty points being added to the Spaniard's FIA Super Licence.

As of now, Red Bull's Sergio Perez remains the driver with the most penalty points, sitting at eight. He earned his first point this season for an unsafe release during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

F1 penalty points explained

Alongside time penalties, drivers could also carry penalty points for driving infringements. These points expire after 12 months, but if a driver collects 12 points within that time, they get a race ban.

GPFans has compiled a list of the points currently accrued by drivers and when they will expire. This article will be updated throughout the year.

Red Bull

Max Verstappen - Two points

Where	Points	Expires	Reason
Las Vegas GP	Two	19th November 2024	Forcing Charles Leclerc off track

Sergio Perez - Eight points

Where	Points	Expires	Reason
Singapore GP	One	17th September 2024	Causing a collision
Japanese GP	Four	24th September 2024	Causing a collision x2
Abu Dhabi GP	Two	26th November 2024	Causing a collision
Saudi Arabian GP	One	9th March 2025	Unsafe release