Penalties: time, grid, drive-through and penalty points

Published Invalid Date · figures as of the 2026 season.

The stewards, three or four officials appointed for each event, judge incidents during and after the race. Their penalties range from a reprimand to disqualification; most are measured in seconds or grid places.

During a race

Penalty	What it is
5-second time penalty	Added to the race time, or served at the next pit stop by holding the car for five seconds before work starts. The common penalty for causing a collision, forcing a car off the track, or an unsafe release.
10-second time penalty	The same, for a more serious case.
Drive-through	The driver must drive through the pit lane at the pit speed limit without stopping, which costs about 20 seconds.
10-second stop-and-go	The driver stops in the pit box for ten seconds with no work done, then continues. The most severe penalty short of exclusion; a car that cannot serve it, because it retired, has 30 seconds added.
Black-and-white flag	A warning for unsporting driving, shown once; the next offence brings a penalty. Since 2024 it is also the first step for repeated track-limits offences, which are detected automatically.
Black flag	Disqualification from the race.

A time penalty served at a stop is why a driver sometimes pits earlier than planned, and why a driver with a 5-second penalty near the end tries to build a gap of more than five seconds to the car behind. The race pages show the classification after penalties; where the source data has a penalty applied, the finishing time includes it.

Before a race

Penalty	What it is
Grid penalty	A set number of places back from the qualifying position, for an incident in the previous race or for exceeding the season’s allowance of power-unit elements and gearboxes. More than 15 places sends the driver to the back.
Pit-lane start	For changes to the car under parc fermé rules, or for a car whose set-up was changed after qualifying.
Deleted lap time	A qualifying lap that left the track at a monitored corner is removed.

Penalty points

Each penalty can carry one to three points on the driver’s super licence. Twelve points within twelve months mean a one-race ban. Points expire twelve months after the offence. This is the rule that makes drivers careful in the second half of a season when their total is high.

After the race

Disqualification can follow a technical check: a car under the minimum weight, excess skid-block wear, a fuel sample that is too small, or a part outside the rules. A disqualified driver loses the result and the points; the drivers behind move up. This site’s results show the classification as published by the official source after any such change.

What is not a penalty

A “black-and-orange flag” orders a car into the pits for repair because something is loose or dangerous; it is a safety instruction, not a punishment. A “no further action” decision closes an investigation without a penalty. “Noted” means the stewards have seen an incident and may investigate.