After Esteban Ocon saw his Bahrain Grand Prix turn nightmarish as he racked up three time penalties that effectively ended his race, then suffered a mechanical failure that sealed his fate, the Alpine driver could at least take solace in knowing he had company. Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg received two time penalties of his own for leaving the track five times “without a justifiable reason,” per the race stewards, leaving him in 15th place.
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Formula One features its fair bit of chaos, but it can also be a persnickety sport. Its regulations outline a wide range of penalties drivers can face for breaching its myriad rules, such as grid penalties for exceeding the allocation of certain car parts like in the power unit, and time penalties for things like lining up outside your assigned grid slot (Ocon), failing to serve your time penalty properly (also Ocon) and speeding in the pit lane (Ocon!).
Both sorts can be devastating in a sport where overtaking is a tricky business and where tenths and hundredths of a second can make all the difference. Here’s how the penalties work, and how they played into the 2023 season opener.
What got Ocon and Hülkenberg into trouble?
Ocon was dealt three separate penalties on Sunday. The first came because the stewards determined that he was not in the correct start position. According to the decision document, video showed that before the lights went out, his right front tire was outside the starting box. The Frenchman pitted to serve his penalty: He had to sit parked in the pit lane for five seconds before his mechanics could touch his car.
But an Alpine mechanic only waited 4.6 seconds before going to work. The race stewards, then, handed him a 10-second penalty for the penalty not being served correctly. The Frenchman served that one properly — but was caught breaking the pit lane’s 80 km/h speed limit by 0.1 km/h.
Hülkenberg, meanwhile, left the track five times “without a justifiable reason” (like, say, to avoid debris or being forced wide) according to the stewards. The Sporting Regulations state, “Drivers will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with it and, for the avoidance of doubt, any white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the (curbs) are not.”
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The black and white flag, which is a warning and indicates unsportsmanlike behavior, was waved on Hülkenberg’s third instance of exceeding track limits, and he was dealt a five-second penalty on the fourth time. The fifth occurrence triggered the 10-second penalty.
What are the time penalties in F1?
When it comes to enforcing F1’s rules, the race stewards have a wide range of sticks to swing. Take Ocon’s pit lane speeding infraction: Under the Sporting Regulations, stewards had the choice of imposing penalties ranging from a five-second stop to a 10-second stop-and-go. Here’s how those work.
5- and 10-second time penalties: These must be served during a pit stop. If a driver does not pit, the time’s added after the race. What qualifies for these specific penalties ranges, and they are fairly common. If the driver serves the penalty like Ocon initially tried to for his “inaccurate start position,” the car needs to be stationary, and the crew cannot work on the car while the penalty is being served.
Drive-through penalty: More severe than adding five seconds to an already planned pit stop, this punishment demands a driver go through the pit lane, but not stop, within two laps. If the penalty is assigned after the race, they get 20 seconds added to their finishing time, the rough equivalent of what it would add in-race.
10-second stop-and-go penalty: These are similar to a drive-through penalty, but worse. The driver has to pull into their box and park for 10 seconds before rejoining the race. The mechanics aren’t allowed to do any work, so the driver can’t even come out of it with fresh tires. If the penalty comes in the final three laps, 30 seconds are added to the driver’s finishing time instead.
(Photo of Esteban Ocon: Lars Baron / Getty Images)
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