F1 penalties explained
What each stewards' outcome actually means, when it escalates to the next one, and every example on record. Plain English, straight from the FIA documents.
- Reprimand A formal, recorded warning with no time or grid penalty. It marks that a driver did something wrong without changing their result. 108 on record
- 5-second penalty Five seconds added to the driver’s race time, or served at their next pit stop before any work is done on the car. The most common in-race sanction. 251 on record
- 10-second penalty Ten seconds added to race time, or served at the next stop before work on the car - one step up from a 5-second penalty. 93 on record
- Drive-through penalty The driver must drive through the pit lane at the speed limit without stopping, then rejoin - costing roughly 20 seconds, more than a 10-second penalty. 20 on record
- Stop-and-go penalty The driver stops in their pit box for a set time (usually 10 seconds) with no work allowed on the car, then rejoins - the harshest in-race penalty short of disqualification. 20 on record
- Grid penalty A number of places dropped on the starting grid of the next race - commonly for power-unit or gearbox component changes, or a penalty carried across the weekend. 173 on record
- Disqualification (DSQ) The driver is excluded from the session results and scores no points - for a technical breach (an illegal car) or a serious sporting offence. 26 on record
- Deleted lap time A lap time is struck from the results - almost always for exceeding track limits (all four wheels beyond the white line) in practice or qualifying. 229 on record
- No penalty (NPA) The stewards investigated and found no punishable offence - a “no further action” ruling that clears the incident and leaves the result unchanged. 27 on record
- Black-and-white flag A warning flag shown for unsportsmanlike behaviour or repeated track-limits abuse - the on-track equivalent of a yellow card. Not a penalty in itself.