Lewis Hamilton is the cleanest driver in Formula 1 and remarkable penalty points statistic proves it

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Lewis Hamilton picked up a rare penalty at the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend. It puts him firmly on the back foot heading to Ferrari’s home race at Monza.

Hamilton didn’t finish on Sunday after finding the barriers just as the first pit-stop phase began. That meant the stewards couldn’t immediately apply a sanction for ignoring yellow flags.

Before the race had started, the drivers were instructed to slow down at the pit entry due to the volume of people on the grid. Hamilton received a five-place penalty because he failed to reduce his speed adequately.

The offence normally carries a 10-place drop, but the stewards recognised that Hamilton did apply the brakes. He also incurred two penalty points (rather than the customary three), spoiling his otherwise clean record.

Lewis Hamilton had gone 51 races without a penalty point before Dutch Grand Prix

Speaking to GQ back in 2020, Jenson Button called Hamilton, his former McLaren teammate, ‘the cleanest guy I ever raced against’. He commended him for ‘never playing dirty’.

Five years later, one statistic suggests that he’s still the cleanest driver in Formula 1. According to RaceFans, he’d gone 51 races without a penalty point before the Zandvoort weekend.

That was the longest streak of any driver. It stretched back to the 2023 Italian GP, when he was adjudged to have caused a collision with Oscar Piastri.

Hamilton apologised to Piastri for that move, and while his streak is now over, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t ended by a wheel-to-wheel offence.

Which F1 drivers have the most penalty points?

Hamilton’s long-time rival Max Verstappen is the closest to receiving a race ban. He has accumulated nine points in the last year, and won’t see any expire until 27 October.

A serious offence between now and then could feasibly take him to the suspension threshold of 12. Haas driver Oliver Bearman must also be careful.

Liam Lawson and Oscar Piastri are halfway there, but every other driver has less than six. Fernando Alonso, Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon boast clean records.

Since the system was introduced in 2014, Verstappen tops the overall penalty points leaderboard on 46. Kevin Magnussen is second (37), with Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez tied for third (34).