Lack of penalty points this F1 season: Kinder Stewards or Drivers not balls out?

[John S]

From reading various articles I can only find 2 drivers, Antonelli & Colapinto, with penalty points lasting until 27, meaning they aquired them this year.
Not only is this a small total but they each have only 1 point hanging over til 27.

Have the Stewards really gone soft,  or perhaps an explanation is racing's not as hard or fully commited as in previous terms?
Do drivers now fear Stewards wrath with so many unpredictable penalty decisions in past seasons? 

Another reason may be the blasted cars this year with the real masters being team set Ai and not necessarily the pilots. 

Strange though, IMHO, with various winners of GPs and seemingly a good fight between teams that drivers seem to have lost killer/agressive/go for gap streak of past seasons, is that a good or bad thing? 

What does anyone else think?

[cosworth151]

With the high pressure tires, spooky AI actions and all, maybe the drivers are too centered on just trying to get the car around the track to push the limits.

[lkjohnson1950]

Yep. If you're not sure what the car is going to do, you become more cautious.

[Alianora La Canta]

Given the stewards on Sunday issued a reprimand (and no penalty points) for Ollie Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto ignoring the red light at the end of the pit lane in the Netherlands, and given Charles Leclerc was issued 20 seconds of time penalty and not given a single penalty point to go with them in Miami, the penalties are definitely not being issued as stringently as they were. Also not all wrongdoing is being identified e.g. when George Russell was allowed to keep a pole earned by accelerating in the last part of a yellow flag zone.

Racefans.net keeps a comprehensive record of who has penalty points and when they expire, all in one place:

Drivers who will have penalty points in 2027:

Carlos Sainz - 5, of which 1 expires in 2027 (specifically 04/07/2026)
Liam Lawson - 3, of which 1 expires in 2027 (specifically 22/08/2027)
Franco Colapinto - 3, all of which expire on 22/08/2027
Arvid Lindblad - 2, which expire on 22/08/2027
Kimi Antonelli - 1 to expire on 24/07/2027

Drivers whose penalty points all expire in 2026:

Ollie Bearman - 4, the last to expire on 06/12/2025
Lewis Hamilton - 3, the last 1 of which expires on 08/11/2026 (the other 2 expire before next race)
Alex Albon - 3, the last 1 expires on 21/11/2026
Lance Stroll - 3, the last 1 expires on 06/12/2026
Yuki Tsunoda - 3, the last 1 expires on 06/12/2026
Oscar Piastri - 2 to expire on 08/11/2026
Esteban Ocon - 1 to expire on 06/09/2026 (i.e next race day)