There’s one 2026 change Verstappen will approve of: Zero penalty points

Amid the furore over what Formula 1’s new engine regulations have done to the racing, a small but significant change in the competition this year has largely gone overlooked.

With four grands prix and two sprint races in the books, F1’s stewards are yet to issue a single penalty point so far this season. To put that in perspective, over the first four rounds last year stewards dished out a total of nine penalty points, spread across five different incidents.

Penalty points have had a significant bearing in recent years. In 2024 Kevin Magnussen became the first F1 driver to reach the 12-point threshold which triggers an automatic ban. He had to sit out the Azerbaijan Grand Prix while Oliver Bearman substituted for him.

Last year a thoroughly unimpressed Max Verstappen had to tread carefully when he reached 11 penalty points after his collision with George Russell in the Spanish Grand Prix. Many felt the three points he received for what appeared to be deliberate contact was on the lenient side.

Although the revisions to the F1 penalty guidelines for 2026 left the door open for stiffer penalties for the most egregious incidents, they also indicated less severe clashes would be treated more leniently. So far the stewards have declined to punish any with penalty points.

This has included collisions which would have collected two or even three penalty points in previous seasons. Esteban Ocon launched into Franco Colapinto from a long way back in Shanghai, knocking his blameless rival into a spin. He received a 10-second time penalty but no endorsement points.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s collision with Isack Hadjar in that weekend’s sprint race was handled the same way. Magnussen’s 2024 ban arose partly because he received two penalty points for a collision with Yuki Tsunoda at the same corner.

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Stewards have handed out more than three points per full-time driver over the last two seasons: 65 last year, 67 in 2024. During last season the vast majority of penalty points were issued for ‘causing a collision’, with ‘forcing a driver off the track’ a distant second.

At the current rate it seems likely all but the most serious incidents will escape a penalty point sanction. That will be particularly welcome news for Oliver Bearman, who began the year on 11 penalty points but will shed two if he gets through the first two days of the Canadian Grand Prix without falling foul of F1’s suddenly much more timid stewards.

For all Verstappen’s complaints about the state of F1 today, this is a development he will welcome as much as anyone. “I hate these stupid penalty points,” he remarked in 2018. Last year, when he closed within a point of a ban, he called journalists who dared ask him about his predicament “childish”.

But if the coming races confirm the impression F1 has indeed softened its position on penalty points, how will that affect the racing? Faced with less severe consequences, will drivers be prepared to get their elbows out more?

At a time when some drivers believe the increased closing speed between cars means they should take more care over their defensive moves, now might not be the best time to weaken the enforcement of the racing rules.

• Formula 1 drivers’ investigations and penalties 2026
• Formula 1 drivers’ penalty points totals

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