Breaking: F1 Penalty Points: Red Bull star edges closer to race ban following….read more 

F1 Penalty Points: Red Bull star edges closer to race ban following….read more 

The Miami Grand Prix weekend delivered a heavy dose of on-track drama, with Saturday’s sprint race turning into a penalty-laden affair. The stewards were kept especially busy as several high-profile incidents required post-race scrutiny and discipline. While some penalties affected final positions and point-scoring opportunities, others may have more serious long-term consequences—especially for one former Red Bull talent who is now edging closer to an automatic race ban.

The most notable penalty of the day involved three-time world champion and current Red Bull Racing ace Max Verstappen. Despite crossing the finish line, Verstappen’s race was marred by a critical error in the pits. He was handed a 10-second time penalty after being released unsafely into the path of rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli. The incident was quickly reviewed by race officials, who deemed Red Bull responsible for the dangerous release. As a result, Verstappen was pushed to the back of the remaining classified runners, a rare occurrence for the typically dominant driver.

Verstappen wasn’t the only one penalized in the aftermath of the sprint. Williams’ Alex Albon and Ferrari stand-in Ollie Bearman also found themselves in hot water following infractions that occurred during the race. Both drivers were penalized after the checkered flag had flown, and the time penalties they received were enough to bump them out of the points-paying positions. It was a particularly disappointing outcome for Bearman, who had shown strong pace and was in contention to score valuable points.

Interestingly, while Verstappen, Albon, and Bearman all suffered from time penalties, none of them received penalty points on their FIA superlicence. Penalty points are a separate form of discipline used by the FIA to track driver conduct over time. Accumulating 12 penalty points within a 12-month period results in an automatic one-race ban—a rule that came into play last season when Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was forced to sit out a race due to point accumulation.

While the current crop of penalties didn’t affect the superlicence status of the sprint’s main headline-makers, one lesser-known name did see his tally rise: Liam Lawson. The New Zealander, who previously filled in for AlphaTauri (now RB) and remains a Red Bull reserve driver, found himself under the spotlight again. Lawson was penalized for causing a collision with Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso during the sprint. The stewards handed him a five-second time penalty, along with a single penalty point on his superlicence.

This new point brings Lawson’s total to six—exactly halfway to the dreaded 12-point threshold that results in a mandatory race ban. With the points valid for 12 months from the date of issuance, Lawson now finds himself in a precarious position. One or two more infractions in the coming races could very well sideline him, putting his racing prospects at risk and potentially forcing Red Bull to rethink their backup driver strategy.

Given how competitive the grid is this season and how closely scrutinized every move on track has become, drivers can ill afford to make errors that result in disciplinary action. The Miami sprint race has served as a stark reminder that in modern Formula 1, every decision—on the pit wall and behind the wheel—carries weighty consequences. And for Liam Lawson, the margin for error just got much smaller.