Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2025

Max Verstappen is no longer in imminent danger of triggering an automatic race ban after completing the Mexican Grand Prix weekend without collecting any more penalty points.

The Red Bull driver has been three penalty points away from incurring a ban since the British Grand Prix. Having avoided any further incidents since then, he will now have three points deducted from his licence before the next round in Brazil.

Penalty points expire after 12 months. Verstappen will drop two points for forcing Lando Norris off the track at last year’s Mexican Grand Prix and one penalty point for failing to slow sufficiently during a Virtual Safety Car infringement in Brazil, dropping him from nine to six.

The risk to Verstappen was highest following the Spanish Grand Prix in June, when he received three penalty points for colliding with George Russell. He spent the next two rounds one point away from a ban until he dropped two penalty points at the end of the month.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Shanghai International Circuit, 2025
Data: Formula 1 drivers’ penalty points

Verstappen avoided collecting any further penalty points in Mexico despite being involved in several incidents during the race. He went off at turn one at the start, clashed with Lewis Hamilton at turn one on lap six, and then went off the track at turns three and four while trying to keep Hamilton behind.

While Verstappen falls from nine penalty points to six, his championship rival Oscar Piastri will also see a reduction before the next round. He drops from six points to four, losing the two he received for a collision with Liam Lawson in Interlagos last year. Norris remains on three.

Oliver Bearman, who is currently the closest to a ban of any driver, can also breathe a sigh of relief after Sunday’s race. He was on 10 penalty points, two shy of a ban, but will drop two before the next race, leaving him on eight. That remains the most of any driver.

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Bearman said last week the threat of a ban had affected him and he will be able to “be myself a bit more” after dropping to eight penalty points.

Verstappen, Piastri and Bearman’s penalty points as of Brazil

Points which will expire before the Brazilian Grand Prix are struck out:

Max Verstappen

DateEventSessionInfringementPoints
27/10/2024Mexican Grand PrixGrand prix‘Forcing another driver off the track.’2
2/11/2024Brazilian Grand PrixSprint race‘The driver was above the minimum time at VSC End.’1
1/12/2024Qatar Grand PrixQualifying‘Car 1 drove unnecessarily slowly on a cool down lap.’1
8/12/2024Abu Dhabi Grand PrixGrand prix‘Car 1 caused a collision with Car 81 in turn 1.’2
1/6/2025Spanish Grand PrixGrand prix‘Car 1 collided with Car 63 at turn 5.’3

Oscar Piastri

DateEventSessionInfringementPoints
3/11/2024Brazilian Grand PrixGrand prix‘Causing a collision with car 30 in turn 1.’2
8/12/2024Abu Dhabi Grand PrixGrand prix‘Car 81 caused a collision with Car 43 before turn 6.’2
6/7/2025British Grand PrixGrand prix‘Erratic braking on the straight before T15 when the Safety Car lights were’2

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Oliver Bearman

DateEventSessionInfringementPoints
3/11/2024Brazilian Grand PrixGrand prix‘Causing a collision with car 43 in turn 10.’2
23/5/2025Monaco Grand PrixQualifying‘Car 87 overtook Car 55 under red flag.’2
5/7/2025British Grand PrixThird practice‘Failure to comply with a red flag’4
7/9/2025Italian Grand PrixGrand prix‘Car 87 collided with Car 55 at Turn 4’2

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