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Verstappen and this world champion are at risk of a race ban in 2025

17 March at 16:30

Last update 17 March at 16:39

Olly Darcy
Editor

All drivers were squeaky clean in regards to penalties and penalty points after the first race of the season, with no one totalling anything up at the Australian Grand Prix. However, there are a couple of drivers who will need to watch out for at the next Grand Prix.

Verstappen and Alonso in penalty point trouble

The 2025 season starts with back-to-back race weekends, with the F1 circus travelling to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix after the first weekend of the season at the Albert Park circuit.

For Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, they will need to be on their best behaviour, with any more penalty points added to their current total meaning they will receive a one-race suspension.

Where it went wrong for Verstappen and Alonso in 2024

Verstappen picked up a total of eight penalty points all from last season, with the majority of them coming in a spree of races as the title battle stepped up. His first penalty points were added because he caused a collision with Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix, with another two then added in October after driving Norris off of the track during the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix.

He then received a point for being under the minimum VSC delta time at the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race, with another point then coming up after driving unnecessarily slowly at the Qatar Grand Prix. A collision between the Dutchman and Oscar Piastri resulted in the final two points that he currently sits on.

With those eight points, it means that the Red Bull Racing driver may only take three more penalty points in the coming months, with his first points expiring on June 30, meaning many more Grand Prix weekends need to be driven cleanly by the four-time world champion.

Along with Verstappen, Alonso needs to be careful in Shanghai next weekend, otherwise he could be suspended. Three penalty points were given to the Spaniard after dangerous driving at last year's Australian Grand Prix, slowing down to impede George Russell. Three more were then added after causing a collision with Carlos Sainz at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.

Alonso's final two points that he currently holds came from the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix after he caused a collision with Zhou Guanyu. However, unlike Verstappen, the two-time world champion only needs to be careful for this race weekend, as three of his penalty points will expire on March 24, falling between the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix.