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

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

No time off for penalty points in summer break

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Wednesday 12 August 2026 19:45

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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.

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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.

Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc no longer have FIA penalty 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

Driver	Team	Penalty Points
Ollie Bearman	Haas	4
Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	4
Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	3
Alex Albon	Williams	3
Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	3
Carlos Sainz	Williams	2
Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	2
Oscar Piastri	McLaren	2
Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	2
Esteban Ocon	Haas	1
Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1
Pierre Gasly	Alpine	0
Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	0
Max Verstappen	Red Bull	0
George Russell	Mercedes	0
Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	0
Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	0
Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	0
Lando Norris	McLaren	0
Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	0
Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	0
Sergio Perez	Cadillac	0

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.

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