F1 drivers face immediate disqualification and five penalty points if they do one of two things at Austrian GP

Formula 1 stars face being immediately disqualified from the race and having five penalty points added to their superlicense if they do one of two things.

After a short break following the Canadian Grand Prix, F1 will make a return this weekend with the action taking place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.

Heading into the latest Grand Prix weekend, the sport's governing body, the FIA, decided to release the F1 stewards' penalty guidelines and the driving standards documents in full for the first time.

While there are many regulations and penalties that most F1 fans would know already, the documents still give avid followers an insight into how the stewards are expected to deal with rules being breached.

Although multiple penalties are handed out throughout a race weekend, there are some serious offences that we don't see often.

For example, ignoring the black flag (disqualification) and the back and orange flag (driving with significant damage) will result in the highest punishment.

It has been said that the punishment will be an immediate disqualification and five penalty points for the offender's superlicense.

President of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, explained the decision to publish the guidelines in full.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Image: Getty

He said: "FIA Stewards perform a hugely complex task, not just in Formula 1 but across all of our championships, and they do this voluntarily, with great passion and commitment. That dedication is all too often met with extreme and wholly unwarranted criticism.

"To demonstrate the rigour with which they pursue their role, we are today publishing the Penalty and Driving Standards Guidelines that assist them with their decisions. This will give fans and members of the media a much deeper and more accurate insight into how decisions are made in Formula 1."

Ben Sulayem added: "The Penalty Guidelines have been a core tool for almost a decade while the Driving Standards Guidelines introduced in 2022 and constantly updated have brought the most important voices, those of the drivers, to the table to create a genuine reference for certain racing situations."