F1 Penalty Points System Loses Meaning As Stewards Adopt Increasingly Lenient Approach In 2026

The 2026 Formula 1 season has generated considerable controversy away from the track, with debates surrounding regulations and Mercedes’ engine compression ratio dominating headlines.
On track, however, matters have remained relatively calm, with a handful of incidents and collisions producing little scrutiny of the stewards through the opening rounds.
Looking solely at the Sunday races, the opening three grands prix of the year were surprisingly uneventful in the stewards’ room.
In Australia, four incidents were investigated without resulting in a single penalty, while in China only one race incident was formally examined, the collision between Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto.
In Japan, in an extremely rare occurrence, no investigations were launched during the race, not even for the clash between Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman.
One constant has emerged from every stewarding decision so far this season: not a single penalty point has been issued on a superlicence in 2026.
Last year, sporting penalties had been accompanied by penalty points on five occasions over the opening five grands prix, while in 2024 that figure stood at eight.
Following debates sparked by Pierre Gasly’s situation at the end of 2022 and Bearman’s position late last season, the FIA and stewards have sought to take a softer approach to penalties previously viewed as excessive.
According to information gathered by Autosport, this shift stems from winter discussions between the FIA and the drivers, who reportedly pushed for a system where points would only be issued for behaviour deemed deliberate or reckless.
That philosophical shift is clearly reflected in the amendments made between 2025 and 2026 to the guidelines outlining penalties for both stewards and the public.
The updated document now explicitly states from the outset that, in a number of cases, the penalty points figure shown “denotes the guideline MAXIMUM”, and that “any number of points from 0 to that number could be imposed”.
The case of Isack Hadjar at the Canadian Grand Prix is perhaps the most revealing example of how far the pendulum has swung in this new direction.
Hadjar was penalised twice during the Canadian GP, first receiving a 10-second penalty for changing direction multiple times while defending against Charles Leclerc, yet receiving no penalty points.
During the same race, Oscar Piastri was penalised for causing contact with Alex Albon and also received a 10-second penalty without any accompanying penalty points added to his superlicence.
Hadjar’s second penalty in Montreal raises even greater questions, as he committed what is traditionally regarded as a particularly serious offence by failing to make a significant speed reduction under double yellow flags.
The infringement carried one of the harshest sanctions available in modern Formula 1, a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, and yet once again no penalty points were issued alongside it.
The more significant document changes concern causing a collision, with the updated guidelines now specifying that “penalty points for causing [a collision] should be adjusted based on the severity of the incident caused”.
For collisions involving “apparent deliberate or reckless intent”, the prescribed four penalty points remain unchanged, theoretically without any possibility of reduction under the revised framework.
The question therefore becomes simple: if ignoring double yellow flags no longer qualifies as serious enough to warrant penalty points, the range of offences likely to trigger the system has become extremely narrow.
Kevin Magnussen remains the only driver to have been suspended under the points system since its introduction in 2014, illustrating just how rarely the mechanism has ever been used to its full effect.
Whether maintaining a penalty points system conceived in 2014 remains relevant in its current form is a question that the governing body and all stakeholders will inevitably need to confront sooner rather than later.
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