FIA penalty points update delivered to Charles Leclerc and another F1 rival during summer break

It may be the summer break but that doesn't mean F1 has stood still during the enforced shutdown.

Teams and drivers must take a break from F1 for two-weeks every summer in between races, and this means factories get closed down and drivers get to do stuff that isn't just driving cars very fast.

But for two F1 drivers things will be slightly different for them when they return to action at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix on August 23 - nearly a month after the previous race at the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 26.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen is available for free, why Mercedes and McLaren cannot mess this up

Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly boost

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will enter the event without any penalty points on his super licence having seen him gain a clean slate during the summer break period.

The Monegasque star was given one point for driving erratically while defending his position from George Russell at last year's Hungarian Grand Prix.

However, given this event occurred on August 3, now a whole year has passed, this point has now been removed meaning Leclerc is back down to zero points.

Another driver who has seen points removed his Alpine's Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman also landed in hot water with the FIA stewards after last year's Hungarian Grand Prix when he was blamed for causing a collision with Carlos Sainz, picking up two penalty points.

These have also now expired after one year, leaving him too with zero points again heading into Zandvoort.

In general, F1 and the FIA have relaxed their policy on handing out penalty points, and this has seen a far reduced amount for this season, so a few more drivers in the coming months could be seeing previously high points tallies comes down to zero again.

Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman currently have the most points of any F1 driver with four each.

F1 driver penalty points after Hungarian GP

How do F1 penalty points work?

Drivers are allowed to a threshold of 12 penalty points and if they exceed that at any time, they are forced into a one-race ban for the next applicable race. All points picked remain active for one year before expiring.

F1 Silly Season 2026: Verstappen, Mercedes and every driver move

F1 SCHEDULE: Every race date for 2026 plus TV details