Formula 1 title leader Max Verstappen is now over halfway to a race suspension after sustaining two separate sanctions in Saudi Arabia while Lewis Hamilton is a single reprimand away from a grid penalty.
Verstappen was handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while battling Hamilton during the race at Jeddah.
He was also handed one penalty point for the infraction.
Verstappen was then judged to have braked in a manner which caused a collision with Hamilton during his attempt at relinquishing the lead to his rival.
The 10-second time penalty that Verstappen incurred did not affect his race position of second, but he was also issued a further two penalty points.
That brings his rolling 12-month total up to seven points.
Verstappen picked up two at Monza for colliding with Hamilton and two at Losail for ignoring yellow flags during qualifying.
It means the first two of Verstappen’s seven penalty points will not be wiped from his license until next September, with 17 more events to run until that date.
Hamilton is on two penalty points; he amassed those for colliding with Verstappen at Silverstone.
The Mercedes driver nonetheless has to walk his own tightrope after picking up his second driving-related reprimand of the season.
Hamilton was reprimanded, with Mercedes fined, after he impeded Haas’ Nikita Mazepin during Saturday’s final practice session through Jeddah’s first sector.
Hamilton’s first reprimand came during practice in Mexico when he did not adhere to the Race Director’s notes when re-joining the track at the first corner.
Under Formula 1’s regulations if a driver receives three reprimands during a season, of which two are imposed for a driving infringement, then they will be relegated 10 places on the grid.
That means that in the event of Hamilton being reprimanded for a driving-related infringement in either practice or qualifying in Abu Dhabi then a grid demotion will follow.
Reprimands are wiped from a driver’s record for each new season but penalty points remain active across a rolling 12-month phase.
Discussion about this post