F1 Driver Penalty Points and Reprimands – Hamilton Could Suffer from Stupid Regulations

“I can’t wait to see who has accrued enough penalty points or reprimands from previous Grand Prix to see who it will affect on the starting grid for this race.” Said no Formula One fan ever!

In a bid to conjure a policing presence over the current crop of drivers, the FIA’s penalty points tally is heating up. Valtteri Bottas leads the standings with 6 penalty points, followed closely by fellow bad boys Kimi Rakkionen and Daniil Kvyat on 5. Which driver’s next qualifying session will be nullified by this system first? Will Williams have to deal with this bullsh*t against already-stacked odds of finishing in the top 6? Will Ferrari’s current “crisis” be deepened by the FIA keeping track of a series of unfortunate events that Raikkonen could do nothing about? Or will it be Kvyat? His emotional turmoil and messy break-up boiled over by a penalty points stitch up?

CVC are rumored to be selling their large stake in Formula One, I didn’t realize that it was the DVLA who were buying. Some of the drivers will have to sit a DVLA national driving offender retraining scheme based on the way this is going. It’s over-policing something that yet again, brings nothing to the sport. I get it, it’s an enforcement tool that reins in drivers to adhering to the rule book. But it feels unfair that a driver can commit an ‘offence’ in a practice session that eventually evolves into a 10-place grid drop at a completely separate race weekend.

Lewis Hamilton has escaped a reprimand for his unsafe release ahead of German Grand Prix qualifying, with… https://t.co/EltVlJLLSf

— F1 Fans Club (@fb_f1fansclub) July 30, 2016

Take Hamilton’s current situation as a golden example in the potential failure of the current system. If a driver collects three separate reprimands over the course of a season, they get an automatic 10-place grid penalty for the next race. Hamilton is currently on two reprimands, so one more equates to a potentially championship defining 10-place grid penalty. Ready to hear the unbearable, sickening racing sins that Hamilton has committed to get slapped with the two reprimands?

He was given his first reprimand of the season for slightly reversing his car in the pit-lane AFTER the Qualifying session had ended in Bahrain. His second reprimand was given in Russia, for failing to rejoin the circuit properly during a PRACTICE SESSION. So a punishment for something that didn’t even occur during a live session, and another in practice could potentially ruin a race for the British driver. The system becomes even more of a joke when you realize that Hamilton has a clean license this season in that he hasn’t accrued any Driver Penalty points this season.

I believe that drivers should only be policed during Qualifying and the Race. Nothing that occurs during Practice or before/after a session should dilute competitiveness. If a driver is deemed to have breached the rules during qualifying or the race, they are dealt with swiftly during the session. That way, there’s no chance of being in a position where the penalty system potentially influences the outcome of the world championship.