Sergio Perez will have to be a little bit more careful after getting four penalty points added to his FIA super licence at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Following on from being the only driver to have penalty points added to his licence in Singapore, the Red Bull driver is now joint-top of F1’s ‘naughty list’ after a tough afternoon at Suzuka.

After overtaking Fernando Alonso under Safety Car conditions while coming into the pit lane, Perez’s T-boning of Kevin Magnussen at the hairpin left him with two penalty points for each incident – with Logan Sargeant also punished at the weekend.

What are penalty points used for in Formula 1?

Formula 1’s penalty points system is in place to keep driver behaviour under control, in the same way as regular road users, with 12 points on their FIA super licence over a 12-month period resulting in a one-race ban.

Penalty points are issued for driver transgressions, with the amount varying depending on the severity of the incident and, once a year has passed since that particular offence, their points get wiped, meaning they have to be careful to avoid crossing that fateful 12-point threshold.

Several drivers continue their angelic run with completely clean licences. These include Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon, with Oscar Piastri the only F1 2023 rookie to hold onto a clean licence for now.

Let’s see how the 20 drivers sit as of the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix.

Seven penalty points

Sergio Perez

• Two points: Expire 2nd October 2023. Issued after the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix for failing to stay within 10 car lengths of the Safety Car.

• One point: Expires 17th September 2024. This was awarded for causing a collision with Alex Albon during the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expire 24th September 2024. These were awarded for overtaking Fernando Alonso under Safety Car conditions at the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expire 24th September 2024. These were awarded for causing a collision with Kevin Magnussen at the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix.

Lance Stroll

• Two points: Expire 23rd October 2023. These were handed out for causing a collision with Fernando Alonso during the 2022 United States Grand Prix.

• Three points: Expire 12th November 2023. These were handed out for a dangerous manoeuvre on Sebastian Vettel during the sprint at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expire 9th July 2024. Issued for a collision also involving Pierre Gasly during the 2023 British Grand Prix.

Five penalty points

Pierre Gasly

• Two points: Expire 9th October 2023. These points were handed out for speeding under red flag conditions at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix

• Two points: Expire 23rd October 2023. These points were handed out for falling more than 10 car lengths behind the car in front during the Safety Car period at the 2022 United States Grand Prix.

• One point: Expires 30th October 2023. This point was given for forcing Lance Stroll off track and gaining an advantage at the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix.

Four penalty points

Lewis Hamilton

• Two points: Expire 29th July 2024. These were given for causing a collision with Sergio Perez during the sprint at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expire 3rd September 2024. These were given for causing a collision with Oscar Piastri during the 2023 Italian Grand Prix.

George Russell

• Two points: Expire 23rd October 2023. These were handed out for causing a collision with Carlos Sainz during the 2022 United States Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expire 28th May 2024. These were handed out for rejoining the track in an unsafe manner at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, causing a collision with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

Daniel Ricciardo

• Two points: Expire 30th October 2023. These were given for causing a collision with Yuki Tsunoda during the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expire 13th November 2023. These were given for causing a collision with Kevin Magnussen during the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Logan Sargeant

• Two points: Expire 3rd September 2024. These were awarded for causing a collision with Valtteri Bottas during the 2023 Italian Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expire 24th September 2024. These were awarded for causing a collision with Valtteri Bottas during the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix.

Three points

Yuki Tsunoda

• One point: Expire June 4th 2024. This was awarded for forcing Zhou Guanyu off track during the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expire August 27th 2024. These were awarded for causing a collision with George Russell during the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.

Two points

Zhou Guanyu

• Two points: Expire 23rd July 2024. These were handed out for causing a collision with Daniel Ricciardo during the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris

• Two points: Expire 13th November 2023. These were handed out for causing a collision with Charles Leclerc during the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso

• Two points: Expires 12th November 2023. These were given for causing a collision with Esteban Ocon during the sprint at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Nico Hulkenberg

• Two points. Expire 29th May 2024. These were handed out at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, for causing a collision with Williams’ Logan Sargeant.

Carlos Sainz

• Two points: Expire 2nd April 2024. These were handed out for causing a collision with Fernando Alonso during the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen

• Two points: Expire 13th November 2023. These were handed out for causing a collision with Lewis Hamilton during the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix.

One point

Alex Albon

• One point: Expires 23rd October 2023. This was handed out for going off track and holding onto position during the 2022 United States Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc

• One point: Expires 9th October 2023. This point was added to Leclerc’s licence for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during the closing stages of the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.

Zero points

Valtteri Bottas

Kevin Magnussen

Esteban Ocon

Oscar Piastri

Inactive drivers with unexpired F1 penalty points

Nicholas Latifi – four points

• Two points: Expire 2nd October 2023. These penalty points were issued for causing a collision with Zhou Guanyu during the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expire 23rd October 2023. These were handed out for colliding with Mick Schumacher and pushing him off track at the 2022 United States Grand Prix.

Mick Schumacher – three points

• One point: Expires 23rd October 2023. This was handed out for exceeding track limits on four occasions during the 2022 United States Grand Prix.

• Two points: Expires 20th November 2023. These points were given to Mick Schumacher for causing a collision with Nicholas Latifi at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Nyck de Vries – two points

• Two points: Expire 2nd July 2024. These were handed out for forcing Kevin Magnussen off track during the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.

Read next: F1 2023: Head-to-head qualifying and race stats between team-mates

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