Which driver has racked up over €35,000 in fines so far in 2022 – and who’s been reprimanded the most?

As the summer break comes to an end and we get set to go racing again in Belgium, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the on and off-track behaviour of the drivers so far this season – with fines and offences data throwing up some interesting statistics...

Vettel leads costliness

Thanks to the data aggregated by Casumo and taken from the FIA’s penalty documents, we can reveal that Sebastian Vettel has accrued the most in penalty fines so far this season. The Aston Martin driver has racked up a full €35,900 in penalties, for issues ranging from speeding in the pit lane to an unsafe release.

But the lion’s share of Vettel’s total comes from a €25,000 fine for his “behaviour during a drivers’ meeting” at the Austrian Grand Prix, while he also illegally rode a scooter on track in Melbourne, which cost €5,000.

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Following the German on the list Carlos Sainz, who has amassed fines of €25,000 so far this season, ahead of Sergio Perez with €10,600. Next on the list is a group of five drivers who have had to pay a bill of €10,000, including Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Zhou Guanyu, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.

Tsunoda and Albon lead the way in offences

They may have been two of the least-fined drivers, but Tsunoda and Albon are the two biggest on-track rule breakers so far this season. Both drivers have committed eight total offences, for which they have received a mixture of warnings and penalties.

Tsunoda has found himself guilty of speeding in the pit lane in Montreal, driving unnecessarily slowly in qualifying in Australia, as well as impeding and causing collisions. For this, the Japanese driver has been reprimanded, received two-point penalties, one five-second time penalty and the above-mentioned €1,300 fine.

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Similar to Tsunoda, Albon has also been found guilty of impeding and speeding in the pit lane. But the Thai racer has also been found responsible for leaving the track and gaining an advantage for unjustifiable reasons. For this, the Williams driver has received six penalty points, 15 seconds in time penalties and the aforementioned €1,800 fine.

All 20 racers on the grid have been guilty of an offence this season, but the best-behaved drivers so far this year have been Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Mick Schumacher – with the trio committing just one infringement each so far.

Haas and Alpine both have a clean sheet

When it comes to the teams, Haas and Alpine will be patting their drivers on the back for their good conduct, as they are yet to pay a single penalty fine so far this season. On the other hand, thanks to Vettel and Stroll’s behaviour, Aston Martin have racked up the largest bill for 13 different offences in the first 13 races.

Ferrari have the second largest penalty bill so far this season, in part thanks to Sainz’s aforementioned €25,000 fine for impeding in FP3 in Monaco, while Leclerc picked up a €10,000 fine for a breach of drivers’ assistant rules in Parc Ferme in Austria.

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The Scuderia’s championship rivals Red Bull are third on the list of penalty fines, with €20,600 – thanks to Verstappen’s own drivers’ assistant breach at the Red Bull Ring, plus Perez’s pit lane speeding and impeding.

Alfa Romeo are next on the list, having had to pick up a bill of €12,000, ahead of both McLaren and Mercedes, with €10,000 of fines each. AlphaTauri have been made to pay €2,600, ahead of Williams, with Albon’s €1,800 fine the only blemish on their record.