Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/611961
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2015 51 Sport FORMULA 1 Verstappen, Honda top 2015 penalty charts TORO Rosso rookie Max Verstap- pen and returning McLaren engine supplier Honda topped the respective driver and power unit penalty charts at the end of the 2015 campaign, as GPUpdate.net explains. Verstappen ended his debut cam- paign on eight penalty points, just four points shy of a one-race ban – handed out if a driver amasses 12 points across a 12-month period. Verstappen picked up two penalty points for clashing with Romain Gros- jean in the closing stages of the Mo- naco Grand Prix, three for driving too quickly behind the Safety Car in Hun- gary and a further three for exceeding track limits/ignoring blue flags at the Abu Dhabi season finale. Pastor Maldonado followed on six points, again for three separate on track incidents, in front of Nico Hülkenberg, Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson, who all collected four. Six drivers, including Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa and Daniel Ricciardo, finished on zero. On the engine front, McLaren-Hon- da racked up the most grid penalties – for exceeding the permitted power unit elements on multiple occasions – with a whopping cumulative total of 320 places. Red Bull (Renault) placed second overall with 120 places, ahead of Toro Rosso (Renault) with 95 places, Ferrari with 50 places and Manor Marussia (Ferrari) with 40 places. Sauber (Ferrari) and all four Mer- cedes-powered teams avoided penal- ties. Driver penalty points Max Verstappen – 8 (Monaco: 2 / Hungary: 3 / Abu Dhabi: 3) Pastor Maldonado – 6 (Malaysia: 3 / Hungary: 2 / Brazil: 1) Nico Hülkenberg – 4 (Malaysia: 2 / Singapore: 2) Romain Grosjean – 4 (Canada: 2; Hungary: 2) Marcus Ericsson – 4 (Austria: 2; Italy 2) Sebastian Vettel – 3 (Canada) Kimi Räikkönen – 3 (Russia) Sergio Pérez – 2 (Malaysia) Jenson Button – 2 (China) Roberto Merhi – 2 (China) Lewis Hamilton – 2 (Hungary) Daniil Kvyat – 2 (Hungary) Valtteri Bottas – 2 (Brazil) Felipe Nasr – 2 (Brazil) Fernando Alonso – 2 (Abu Dhabi) Nico Rosberg – 0 Felipe Massa – 0 Daniel Ricciardo – 0 Carlos Sainz Jr. – 0 Alexander Rossi – 0 Will Stevens – 0 Engine grid penalties McLaren-Honda – 320 places Button: 165 (Canada: 15, Austria: 25, Belgium: 50, Italy: 5, Mexico: 70) Alonso: 155 (Austria: 20, Belgium: 55, Italy: 10, Russia: 35, Mexico: 10, Brazil: 25) Red Bull-Renault – 120 places Ricciardo: 80 (Austria: 10, Italy: 50, Brazil: 20) Kvyat: 40 (Austria: 10, Italy: 30)* Toro Rosso-Renault – 105 places Sainz Jr: 55 (Italy: 35, Russia: 20) Verstappen: 50 (Canada: 10, Belgium: 10, Italy: 30) Ferrari – 50 places Vettel: 10 (USA: 10) Räikkönen: 40 (USA: 10, Mexico: 30) Manor-Ferrari – 45 places Stevens: 25 (USA: 20, Abu Dhabi: 5) Merhi: 20 (Russia: 20) Mercedes – 0 Williams-Mercedes – 0 Force India-Mercedes – 0 Lotus-Mercedes – 0 Sauber-Ferrari – 0 * Kvyat was forced to start from the pit lane in Japan, after his car's survival cell was changed, meaning further penalties for new power unit elements and a gearbox change could not be applied Full list of 2015 driver/engine penalties: