Harsher penalties are needed in F1
FINAL CORNER, CHEQUERED FLAG: The penalty system in F1 is so not right
Penalties are an effectively pointless exercise in Formula 1.
The introduction of a new penalty system is still a fairly new concept to the sport.
There are so many different infractions that a team or driver can incur in the middle of a Grand Prix but, up until recently, there was only really one way to punish those who fell foul of the rules.
A drive-through penalty was the least harsh, scaling towards a five and 10-second stop-go penalty.
Otherwise, a full on disqualification was possible through the use of a black flag, which was far more common prior to the turn of the millennium.
The stewards were handed more wiggle room with the arrival of five and 10-second time penalties, which are either served during a scheduled pit-stop or are added onto drivers' finishing times after the race is completed.
Their arrival was a good thing, met with open arms by most following the sport.
However, the over-reliance on them has become a crutch which has rendered the idea of punishing drivers almost pointless.
There are now dozens of examples of drivers being found at fault for collisions, only to earn a five second penalty that has no impact on their finishing position.
Meanwhile, the victim in the accident is at the back of the pack, or even in the wall.
Perhaps the most famous example comes in the 2021 British Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton was judged to have been at fault for an accident that took his championship rival Max Verstappen out of the race.
The seven-time champion earned a 10-second penalty — most incidents usually only warrant five seconds, so this could be read as an admission that it was a serious mistake — and, with Hamilton’s biggest rival out of the race, the Briton went on to win and earn 25 points over Verstappen in the title battle.
That is an extreme example, but there are countless others that follow the same principle.
The 2023 Italian Grand Prix also highlighted another issue with the over-reliance on these time penalties.
Again, Hamilton was involved in an accident where he was found at fault that he came away from unscathed while his rival, Oscar Piastri, was forced to pit for a new front wing.
He was handed a five-second time penalty and his finishing position was unchanged.
Earlier in that same race his teammate George Russell was found guilty of leaving the track and gaining an unfair advantage, having overtaken Esteban Ocon while failing to keep all four wheels between the white lines.
Leaving the track and gaining an advantage is a much smaller infraction than causing a collision, which can end someone’s race, so a five or 10-second penalty makes more sense.
That the two are equally punished is bizarre.
Some will argue that the consequence of the incident should not be taken into account when handing out penalties, but that’s simply nonsensical.
It isn’t even a fair reflection of reality, as minor incidents between drivers often go unpunished and the five-second penalties are only handed out when there are consequences to a collision.
Going over the pit-entry line is punished as equally as causing a collision, which just isn’t fair.
One is a very minor infraction, while the other has damaged at least one person’s race completely.
The introduction of these time penalties was perfect for those types of minor infractions, as a drive-through for going over a white line was madness.
But it has now swung too far the other way and a correction is needed.
Drivers are starting to realise this too, with some potentially abusing the system to their advantage.
Alexander Albon seemed to think so after he was shoved into the wall in Singapore by Sergio Perez.
The Williams driver was dropped out of the points, while Checo was handed a five-second penalty which saw him remain in his p8 finishing position.
“I think it’s quite a tricky one,” said Albon after the race.1
“Consistency, we push on it a lot as drivers, as teams as well and viewers, but it’s a tricky one.
“For example, you can take my incident with Checo [Perez] when he has a five-second penalty.
“It’s consistent with everything else, but is it really consistent? Fair? Maybe not.
“So I do think there needs to be flexibility in some ways.”
Even Russell’s example from Monza could stand to be a 10-second penalty or worse as a clear calculation was made by the team after he illegally overtook the Alpine.
It was advantageous to take a five-second penalty instead of giving back the place as letting Ocon through would cost him more time overall, meaning he was effectively rewarding for corner-cutting.
Both Mercedes cars finished where they crossed the line in Italy, which goes to show just how useless these time-penalties can be.
What’s the use of punishing someone if they don’t feel any consequences from it at all?
F1 needs a rethink for the 2024 season, or else the situation will become totally pointless.
Prediction corner
Related to this newsletter, I predict that a major incident will happen at the front before the end of this season where a punished driver stays on the podium despite earning a time-penalty.
Driver power rankings - Japan & Qatar
Race ratings - Japan & Qatar
Japan played out without much fuss or fanfare, with expected results based on qualifying.
There was some fun on-track action, and strategy gave us a bit of a guessing game on finishing positions, but it was fairly tame overall. 2/5
Meanwhile, Qatar was a total mess with drivers seriously suffering from the horrific conditions.
This led to uncharacteristic mistakes, with the tyre situation not helping matters.
A race where all drivers are at full pelt for the entire race was a fun change of pace, but this was an otherwise okay race. 2/5.
Quote of the week
“I’ve watched the replay and it was 100% my fault and I take full responsibility,” wrote Hamilton on Twitter after his collision with Russell in Qatar.
“Apologies to my team and to George.”
Storyline of the week - Austin
There shouldn’t be much fallout from the Mercedes incident in Austin due to Hamilton’s apology.
However, the pace difference between the pair is becoming increasingly interesting as they look to assert dominance in the team ahead of a more hopeful 2024 campaign.
How they compare in Austin and beyond will be worth keeping an eye out for.