F1 penalty points are awarded to drivers for their transgressions during a race weekend. These could be anything ranging from causing an incident to dangerously blocking another competitor or driving in an unsafe manner in the pitlane.
Each of these transgressions, based on their severity, has different F1 penalty points attached to them. Once a driver accumulates 12 penalty points in a 12-month period, he faces a suspension for one race. The penalty points will continue to be on the driver's quota for 12 months before they expire.
On that note, let's take a look at where each driver stands in terms of F1 penalty points before the 2023 Belgian GP.
F1 Penalty points standings after the 2023 Belgian GP
1) Lewis Hamilton
Penalty Points: 0
Hamilton has kept a clean slate over the last 12 months.
2) George Russell
Penalty Points: 4
George Russell has four F1 penalty points to his name, accrued over the last 12 months.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Carlos Sainz during the 2022 F1 US GP (Expires on 23rd October 2023).
- Two points: Rejoining the track in an unsafe manner at the 2023 Monaco GP and causing a collision with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (Expires on 28th May 2024).
3) Max Verstappen
Penalty Points: 2
Max Verstappen has two points to his name that were picked up for his collision with Lewis Hamilton in Brazil last season.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Lewis Hamilton during the 2022 Brazilian GP (Expires on 13th November 2023).
4) Sergio Perez
Penalty Points: 2
Perez has two F1 penalty points for his post-race penalty in the 2022 F1 Singapore GP.
- Two points: Failing to stay within 10 car lengths of the Safety Car (Expires on 2nd October 2023).
5) Charles Leclerc
Penalty Points: 1
Charles Leclerc picked up one penalty point last season at the 2022 F1 Japanese GP.
- One point: Leaving the track and gaining an advantage in the 2022 F1 Japanese GP (Expires 9th October 2023).
6) Carlos Sainz
Penalty Points: 2
Carlos Sainz has two F1 penalty points that were picked up during the red flag restart in Australia this season.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Fernando Alonso during the 2023 F1 Australian GP (Expires on 2nd April 2024).
7) Lando Norris
Penalty Points: 2
Norris has two F1 penalty points to his name in the last 12 months.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Charles Leclerc during the 2022 F1 Sao Paulo GP (Expires on 13th November 2023).
8) Oscar Piastri
Penalty Points: 0
Piastri has kept a clean slate in his first F1 season.
9) Fernando Alonso
Penalty Points: 2
Fernando Alonso has two points from last season during his time at Alpine.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Esteban Ocon during the sprint at the 2022 Sao Paulo GP (Expires on 12th November 2023).
10) Lance Stroll
Penalty Points: 7
Lance Stroll has seven F1 penalty points to his name.
- Two points: Causing a collision with Pierre Gasly during the 2023 F1 British GP (Expires on 11th July 2024).
- Two points: Causing a collision with Fernando Alonso during the 2022 F1 US GP (Expires on 23rd October 2023).
- Three points: Dangerous maneuver on Sebastian Vettel during the sprint at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix (Expires on 12th November 2023).
11) Esteban Ocon
Penalty Points: 2
The Alpine driver does not have any penalty points to his name.
12) Pierre Gasly
Penalty Points: 5
The Alpine driver has five F1 penalty points next to his name.
- Two points: Speeding under red flag conditions at the 2022 Japanese GP (Expires on 9th October 2023).
- Two points: Falling more than 10 car lengths behind the car in front during the Safety Car period at the 2022 US GP (Expires on 23rd October 2023).
- One point: Forcing Lance Stroll off track and gaining an advantage at the 2022 Mexican GP (Expires on 30th October 2023).
13) Nyck de Vries
Penalty Points:2
De Vries picked up his first penalty points during the 2023 F1 Austrian GP for causing a collision with Kevin Magnussen.
- Two points: For forcing Kevin Magnussen off track during the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix (Expires on 2nd July 2024)
14) Yuki Tsunoda
Penalty Points: 3
Yuki Tsunoda has three F1 penalty points to his name.
- One Point: Pushing Guanyu Zhou off track during the 2023 F1 Spanish GP (Expires on 4th June 2024).
- Two points: Failing to slow for yellow flags during FP2 for the Italian Grand Prix (Expires on September 9th, 2023).
15) Logan Sargeant
Penalty Points: 0
Logan Sargeant has banged up his car quite a few times this season, but fortunately for him, there hasn't been any visit to the stewards' room resulting in F1 penalty points.
16) Alex Albon
Penalty Points: 1
The Williams lead driver has one F1 penalty point accrued over the last 12 months.
- One point: This was handed out for going off track and holding onto position during the 2022 US GP (Expires on 23rd October 2023).
17) Kevin Magnussen
Penalty Points:1
The Danish driver only has one F1 penalty point from Monza last season.
- One point: This was handed out for overtaking by leaving the track during the 2022 Italian Grand Prix (Expires on 11th September 2023).
18) Nico Hulkenberg
Penalty Points:2
The German has two penalty points against him.
- Two points. Causing a collision with Williams’ Logan Sargeant at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix (Expires on 29th May 2024)
19) Valtteri Bottas
Penalty Points:0
Bottas has not accrued any penalty points in the last 12 months.
20) Guanyu Zhou
Penalty Points: 2
The Chinese driver has two points in the last 12 months.
- One point: Exceeding track limits during the 2022 Austrian GP (Expires on 10th July 2023).
- Two points: Causing a collision with Mick Schumacher during the 2022 French Grand Prix (Expires on 23rd July 2023).