Penalty numbers in the 2017 championship

Formula One race stewards are not always the most beloved members of a Grand Prix weekend, nor is the labyrinthian sporting regulation. Drivers and their fans often find it hard to accept penalties which can often have a painful, aching effect on race results.

The race stewards were low-keyed in sharing out penalties during the 2017 championship season. This year’s hunt for the world titles saw a lower number of penalties than many years before. A total of 138 penalties was issued. The Italian Grand Prix stands out with the highest number of penalties. Monza was the scene of the highest amount of unscheduled change of power unit components. The number of penalties exceeded the limit of ten in Monte Carlo, Spa, Austin and Mexico City.

21 penalties for unscheduled gearbox changes were handed out which meant a drop of five places on the grid.

The stewards found the drivers 18 times guilty for any on-track manoeuvres. Time-penalty was handed out to Kimi Räikkönen in Spa when he allegedly did not reduce his speed in a double-yellow-flag situation. His team mate Sebastian Vettel was also given a time penalty when he was deemed guilty in a collision with Lewis Hamilton during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Both Ferrari drivers had to serve these penalties during their pit stop.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was also given a time penalty after the American Grand Prix because he overtook Kimi Räikkönen in the dying minutes of the race off the track. Five seconds were added to the race time of the 20-year-old driver.

Only two penalties were handed out for neglecting blue flags and three for impeding a faster car. Three drivers – Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez - were reprimanded for arriving late to the national anthem.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen collected the highest number of penalty points on his super license. On the other end of the spectrum, only Daniel Ricciardo, Pierry Gasly, Brendon Hartley and Valtteri Bottas escaped collecting penalty points.

The following table summarizes the grid-drop-penalties which were handed out for exceeding the usage of power unit elements and gearboxes and for other driver or team infringements.