Kvyat leads the field in driver penalty points

40

All the focus at Monza was on teams racking up grid penalties for power element usage and gearbox changes. But when it comes to driver penalty points, it's Daniil Kvyat who is currently in a class of his own and leading the way in 2017.

Drivers can receive points on their Formula 1 superlicence as a punishment for various misdemeanours over a Grand Prix weekend. If a driver receives 12 penalty points in a calendar year, they get an automatic one-race ban.

Currently Kvyat has more points on his licence than anyone else. The Toro Rosso driver been penalised on seven occasions and currently has a total of 10 points.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel came close to being the first driver to get a one-race ban when he was penalised for colliding with Lewis Hamilton at Baku. However a number of earlier penalties have since expired. The four-time champion is now back down to a 'safe' seven points for the current 12-month period.

Todt justifies Vettel judgement - labels Baku clash 'unacceptable'

Vettel is currently equal with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen in second place on the penalty table. Force India's Sergio Perez and Renault's Jolyon Palmer come next on five points apiece.

Lewis Hamilton has accrued just two penalty points in the last year. He was reprimanded for being too slow in the pit lane at Silverstone. Although now retired, Hamilton's former Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg still has two points on his licence having been deemed to have caused a collision at last year's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Jenson Button has two points despite having made only one appearance in the 2017 season for McLaren. He was judged to have caused the collision with Sauber's Pascal Wehrlein that put both drivers out of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Here's the full breakdown of how each driver stands after the Italian Grand Prix, and where their penalties were incurred.

Current driver penalty points

Daniil Kvyat: 10 points in total

2016 United States GP: Causing a collision - 2pts
2016 Mexican GP: Gained advantage going off track - 1pt
2017 Canadian GP: Failed to re-establish starting order - 2pts
2017 Austrian GP: Causing a collision - 2pts
2017 British GP: Rejoined track in unsafe manner - 2pts
2017 Hungarian GP: Blocking a rival competitor - 1pt

Sebastian Vettel: 7 points in total

2016 Malaysian GP: Causing a collision - 2pts
2016 Mexican GP: Driving dangerously - 2pts
2017 Azerbaijan GP: Causing a collision - 3pts

Kevin Magnussen: 7 points in total

2016 United States GP: Gained advantage going off track - 2pts
2017 Russian GP: Left track and rejoined outside requirements - 1pt
2017 Canadian GP: Overtaking under SC - 2pts
2017 Hungarian GP: Forcing driver off track - 2pts

Sergio Perez: 6 points in total

2016 Singapore GP: Ignoring yellow flags - 3pts
2017 Monaco GP: Causing a collision - 2pts
2017 Belgian GP: Gained advantage going off track - 1pt

Jolyon Palmer: 6 points in total

2016 Abu Dhabi GP: Causing a collision - 2pts
2017 Chinese GP: Driving too fast through double yellows - 3pts
2017 Italian GP: Gained advantage going off track - 1pt

Carlos Sainz: 5 points in total

2016 Mexican GP: Gained advantage going off track - 1pt
2017 Bahrain GP: Causing a collision - 2pts
2017 Canadian GP: Causing a collision - 2pts

Stoffel Vandoorne: 5 points in total

2017 Russian GP: Left track and rejoined outside requirements - 1pt
2017 Spanish GP: Causing a collision - 2pts
2017 Austrian GP: Ignoring blue flags - 2pts

Nico Hulkenberg: 4 points in total

2017 Chinese GP: Overtaking under VSC - 2pts
2017 Chinese GP: Overtaking under SC - 2pts

Esteban Ocon: 4 points in total

2016 Singapore GP: Overtaking under SC - 2pts
2016 Brazilian GP: Blocking a rival competitor - 2pts

Romain Grosjean: 3 points in total

2017 Chinese GP: Driving too fast through double yellows - 3pts

Max Verstappen: 3 points in total

2016 Mexican GP: Gained advantage going off track - 1pt
2017 Hungarian GP: Causing a collision - 2pts

Felipe Massa: 3 points in total

2017 Belgian GP: Driving too fast through double yellows - 3pts

Kimi Raikkonen: 3 points in total

2017 Belgian GP: Driving too fast through double yellows - 3pts

Pascal Wehrlein: 2 points in total

2017 Spanish GP: Did not keep to the right of pit entry bollard - 2pts

Felipe Massa: 2 points in total

2016 Brazilian GP: Overtaking before SC Line - 2pts

Lewis Hamilton: 2 points in total

2017 Bahrain GP: Too slow in pit lane - 2pts

Jenson Button: 2 points in total

2017 Monaco GP: Causing a collision - 2pts

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.