Hulkenberg first not to receive penalty points for track limits

Nico Hulkenberg made his comeback on the Formula 1 grid last weekend. It did not go all too smoothly for the Haas driver: he received a fifteen-second time penalty for exceeding track limits too often. After the race, however, it emerged that he is the first driver not to receive any penalty points for said offence.

Normally, it works like this: the track limits can be exceeded three times, from the fourth time on, time penalties are handed out and it was always the case that the driver in question gets penalty points recorded on his licence. If there are too many penalty points, he faces a race ban.

The argument for penalty points is that they are handed out by the stewards to punish dangerous driving behaviour. However, there was already dissatisfaction about the fact that these penalty points are also handed out when exceeding track limits, when this does not necessarily imply dangerous driving. For drivers like Pierre Gasly, who are high on penalty points because of these regulations, it would help if these regulations were lifted.

A sudden change

Now it appears that Hulkenberg, who exceeded the track limits five times in Bahrain, bringing in two time penalties, did not receive any penalty points from the FIA after the race. So, there does seem to be some change regarding these regulations, which surely benefits the drivers.