FIA rules out mid-season penalty points change

Austrian Grand Prix

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FIA rules out mid-season penalty points change

Norris and Perez both added to their penalty points totals in Austria

Sam Hall

Friday 9 July 2021 10:30

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FIA race director Michael Masi has ruled out the possibility of a mid-season change to the penalty points system as the teams agreed to it before the current F1 campaign began.

Lando Norris has picked up five penalty points in the past three races, taking his total to 10 for the past 12 months. Registering 12 in total triggers an automatic race ban, although two points are due to be wiped before next weekend's British Grand Prix.

Norris' most recent points were collected after he failed to return immediately to the pits when the red flags were shown in Azerbaijan and for not leaving racing room for Sergio Perez in Austria following a safety car restart.

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On both occasions, the points were widely viewed to be harsh. Masi, however, countered: "I don’t think they are.

"It was discussed late last year and it is funny because it affects different drivers in different teams in different ways and the consensus was at the end of last year from involving everyone, teams, the FIA and F1, there shouldn’t be a change for this year.

“It is not something we would ever change mid-year so the penalty scale is something the teams all agreed on and actually had input into at the start of the year. That is what the stewards use.”

Drivers must adjust style

The points system was introduced ahead of the 2014 season and to date, no driver has reached the 12-point mark across a 12-month period.

With the majority of the field moving into F1 after the system entered into use, Masi believes the onus is on the drivers to adapt to the situation they are faced with.

“To be fair, it is a penalty points system that exists, so it has been there all the way through," said Masi.

"It is no different to those driving on the road in a lot of countries that have the maximum number of points that they have to abide by and they have to adjust driving style, and so forth, accordingly."