Record of sanctions since the beginning of the 2012 season

Formula One is a story of drivers, engineers, and teams but also, some will regret, a story of race stewards, penalties, and fines. In this domain, if a champion had to be designated among the drivers engaged in 2012, Pastor Maldonado would be the overwhelming favorite at mid-season since the Williams driver already accumulates 3 grid penalties, totaling 20 places lost, as well as 2 reprimands, a Drive-Through, a 20-second penalty, and €12,600 in fines.

The Venezuelan is not the only one to have faced the wrath of the stewards or suffered from a mechanical failure. casinoenligne.uk.com offers you a quick overview of the penalties imposed on drivers and their teams since the start of the season.

Sanctions on the Grid

Several types of penalties can affect a driver’s starting position:

– Un pilote doit disputer cinq épreuves consécutives avec la même boîte de vitesses. S’il est obligé d’en changer entre temps, il recule de cinq places sur la grille de départ ;

– Un pilote dispose de 8 moteurs pour disputer l’entièreté de la saison. Pour chaque nouveau moteur au-delà de cette limite durant la saison, le pilote recule de dix places sur la grille de départ ;

– Un pilote ayant provoqué un accident lors d’une course peut écoper d’une pénalité de 5 à 10 places sur la grille de l’épreuve suivante, en fonction du degré de gravité de l’accident ;

– Toute infraction au règlement n’ayant pas donné lieu à une sanction immédiate lors d’un Grand Prix peut se traduire par une rétrogradation lors de l’épreuve suivante et tout incident pendant les Essais Libres ou les Qualifications peut également conduire à une rétrogradation en fonction de sa gravité.

Since the beginning of the season, no fewer than 17 penalties involving grid penalties have been handed out, resulting in a total of 95 places lost. Eleven of these penalties were given due to a gearbox change. By comparison, in 2011, when regulatory constraints were the same as this season, only Daniel Ricciardo (HRT) received a penalty for a gearbox change.

Four penalties were imposed following collisions, either during the previous Grand Prix (Michael Schumacher in Spain or Jean-Eric Vergne and Kamui Kobayashi in Valencia), or during qualifying in the case of Pastor Maldonado in Monaco. The last two penalties were for rule violations: Heikki Kovalainen was demoted 5 places in Malaysia after reclaiming a lost lap improperly under the safety car during the Australian Grand Prix, and Sergio Pérez received a 5-place penalty in Germany for obstructing Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen during qualifying.

With 3 penalties, totaling 20 grid positions, Pastor Maldonado is the most heavily penalized driver since the start of the season. Michael Schumacher and Sergio Pérez follow with 2 penalties for a total of 10 positions, while Jean-Eric Vergne was penalized ten positions after his collision with Heikki Kovalainen during the European Grand Prix.

On the team side, Williams is the one that has moved back the most on the starting grids of the season with 20 penalty places, ahead of Mercedes and Sauber, each of which have moved back 15 places on the grid since the beginning of the season, while Lotus and Toro Rosso have respectively moved back 10 places on the grids so far in 2012. It should be noted that only HRT and Ferrari have so far escaped any penalties affecting the starting position of their drivers.

All this does not take into account the case of Lewis Hamilton during the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix where he was simply excluded from qualifying.

Financial Penalties

During a race weekend, drivers and their teams can face financial penalties for various reasons. The most common issue involves speeding in the pit lane. Article 30.12 of the sporting regulations imposes a speed limit of 60km/h during the three Free Practice sessions and 100km/h during Qualifying and the Race: however, this speed limit can be modified upon indication from the FIA Safety Delegate. During Free Practice and Qualifying, any driver caught speeding is fined €200 for each km/h over the authorized limit. In the Race, the driver is penalized with a Drive Through or a ten-second Stop-and-Go.

So far, in 2012, 5 drivers have been caught speeding in the pit lane and have received financial penalties. Pastor Maldonado was penalized twice, first with €1,400 in Valencia and then with €1,200 in Hockenheim. However, the record is held by Nico Hülkenberg, who, during Free Practice 3 of the Spanish Grand Prix, was clocked at 95.5 km/h, resulting in a fine of €7,200.

Drivers and teams can also face fines for incidents occurring in the pit lane. For example, the Mercedes team was fined €5,000 for an unsafe release of Michael Schumacher’s F1 W03 in China. Kamui Kobayashi, on the other hand, received a €25,000 fine for hitting his own mechanics during a pit stop at the British Grand Prix.

Financial penalties are also applied for certain infringements found in Free Practice or Qualifying: Kimi Räikkönen and Jenson Button both received a €2,500 fine for crossing the white line at the pit exit, while Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) had to pay €2,500 for using a front tire that had not been checked by the FIA stewards during Q1 in Germany. Finally, in Valencia, Sauber was fined €5,000 for Sergio Pérez driving below the maximum time allowed by race control under the safety car regime.

Finally, drivers can also be fined following a racing accident for which they have been deemed responsible. For instance, in Great Britain, after his collision with Sergio Pérez, Pastor Maldonado was given a reprimand along with a fine of €10,000. In Valencia, penalized with a 10-place grid drop for the British Grand Prix after his clash with Heikki Kovalainen, Jean-Eric Vergne received a €25,000 fine, which the French driver had to pay out of his own pocket.

Drive-Through, Stop-and-Go, and Other Penalties

In the event of a racing incident or rule violation during the race, the driver and/or their team may receive a Drive-Through penalty or, more rarely, a ten-second Stop-and-Go penalty, or they may be summoned after the race before the panel of stewards, which has a range of sanctions from a reprimand to disqualification or exclusion from the Grand Prix.

So far, 10 drivers have been issued a Drive-Through penalty during races. In Spain, Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel were penalized for not slowing down sufficiently under yellow flags, while Charles Pic was forced to go through the pit lane after ignoring blue flags, which are waved at backmarkers to prevent them from hindering the race. Jean-Eric Vergne, Narain Karthikeyan, and Michael Schumacher were all sanctioned for speeding in the pit lane during the race, with the German receiving his penalty as recently as the Hungarian Grand Prix. Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado were penalized for collisions, the Brazilian in Europe for his accident with Kamui Kobayashi and the Venezuelan in Hungary for his accident with Paul di Resta. Finally, Sergio Pérez received a Drive-Through penalty for obstructing Kimi Räikkönen in Monaco, while Pedro de la Rosa was sanctioned in Malaysia because his team had not cleared the starting grid at the three-minute signal before the race as the regulations stipulate.

Three drivers were penalized after the race with a drive-through converted into a 20-second penalty: Narain Karthikeyan in Malaysia for his collision with Sebastian Vettel, Pastor Maldonado in Valencia for the accident with Lewis Hamilton, and, more recently, Sebastian Vettel for his overtaking of Jenson Button outside the track limits at Hockenheim.

The rest of the time, the drivers received reprimands. Since Melbourne, 6 drivers have been reprimanded, but only Pastor Maldonado has received two so far, the first for blocking Heikki Kovalainen in Q1 during the Chinese Grand Prix, and the second for his involvement in the accident with Sergio Pérez during the British Grand Prix race. Pedro de la Rosa was reprimanded in China for hindering Bruno Senna, while Jean-Eric Vergne was reprimanded for not showing up for the weigh-in during qualifications in Bahrain. In Spain, Michael Schumacher was warned for going off track without being able to explain the reasons, while in Monaco and Canada, Nico Hülkenberg and Sebastian Vettel were both reprimanded for their involvement in Sergio Pérez’s accident for the former and Bruno Senna’s for the latter; these incidents occurred during Practice Sessions.

By way of comparison, in 2011, 5 drivers were reprimanded and 3 drivers received a warning.

Summary of Penalties Imposed Since the Start of the 2012 Season