General
F1 Commission proposes no penalty points for exceeding track limits
- GPblog.com
Pierre Gasly currently has 10 penalty points on his licence and that means the Frenchman is close to a Grand Prix suspension. The rookie Alpine driver will not see his next penalty points disappear until 22 May this year and so Gasly must be very careful the first GP weekends this season. Meanwhile, there are talks within Formula 1 to adjust the penalty point system.
Currently, drivers in the premier class of motorsport are given penalty points the moment they cross the track limits more than three times in a Grand Prix. However, the idea of penalty points on a driver's licence is meant to deter dangerous driving, but colouring outside the lines is not very dangerous in itself.
Gasly is currently on the verge of being suspended because he exceeded track limits pretty much more often than allowed in 2022. At a recent F1 Commission meeting, it was reportedly proposed that drivers no longer receive penalty points for track limits, but only at the time they are involved in dangerous driving.
Alpine wants penalty points waived
Alpine, however, want to go a step further than that. The French formation wants penalty points for exceeding track limits to be cancelled from drivers even retroactively, reports Auto, Motor und Sport. Only Gasly would really benefit from this, he would lose four penalty points. The other Formula 1 teams do not seem to be big fans of Alpine's proposal, because: 'You don't get a past penalty waived just because the rules are changing this year.'