CHELSEA are set to be hit with a record-breaking fine after making Premier League history.

Enzo Maresca‘s side secured a 2-1 win over Newcastle on Sunday courtesy of goals from Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer.

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However, it was the Blues’ lack of discipline which has landed them in hot water.

According to Daily Mail reporter Kieran Gill, the club’s six yellow cards against the Magpies has seen them become the first side to receive six yellow cards in three games in a season.

Chelsea saw Robert Sanchez, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Christopher Nkunku all booked during the Stamford Bridge clash.

The Prem fines clubs that do this in one match £25,000, with the penalty increasing for repeat offenders. Six teams suffered this fate last season.

Chelsea were first caught foul of the six-card threshold against Bournemouth, when they picked up eight yellow cards and were fined £25,000.

The second occasion saw them fined £50,000 as they registered six yellows against Nottingham Forest at the start of October.

And today’s six cautions have landed them a fine of £75,000, taking their total for the season up to a staggering £150,000.

Fofana and Marc Cucurella have been given the most cards of any player in the league this season, with six and five apiece.

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Meanwhile, the 36 yellow cards they have picked up puts them seven ahead of the next worst teams, Southampton and Wolves, who have 29 each.

Despite their excessive yellow card count, Chelsea are yet to see a player shown a red this season, with Arsenal leading that list with three.

Speaking about his side’s seeming lack of discipline after the Forest draw earlier this month, Maresca said: “I like the team the way they are fighting for each other and becoming a team.

“I like the spirit of our team.”

They are currently on course to break their own unwanted record of 105 yellow cards set under Mauricio Pochettino last season.

On the game today, Maresca said: “I am very happy with the performance today because in some moments on the ball, we were unbelievable.

“There were some good combinations and the way we prepared the game was exactly there.

“Off the ball, they fought together and showed they deserved to win. This is important.”

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez has criticised RB driver Liam Lawson’s attitude after the pair came to blows in Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix.

Perez and Lawson, the driver who is aiming to take his Red Bull seat, clashed in Turn 4 when the former attempted to overtake the New Zealander on lap 19.

Perez claimed the left-hand corner by being ahead of the apex and pushed Lawson off, but the 22-year-old kept his foot in and remained alongside for the Turn 5 switchback, with his front-left corner taking a bite out of Perez’s floor edge and sidepod.

The downforce loss from the floor damage further derailed Perez’s home race, with the Mexican having started from the rear due to a botched qualifying session, compounded by a five-second penalty for being outside of his grid slot at the start.

To add insult to injury, Lawson later breezed past him on the straight while giving him the finger, and Perez was incensed by the Kiwi’s attitude in their battles, with Lawson having previously drawn the ire of Fernando Alonso in Austin.

“I had the manoeuvre into Turn 4 and then he was outside the track and just came straight like if there was no car,” Perez said.

“I think he could have avoided the incident but he just went back. Luckily I saw him and I opened the room otherwise it would have been a massive crash. There was no need. We damaged both of our races. It was a little bit too much.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

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“He’s not getting any penalties as well. He did the same with Fernando, with Franco [Colapinto] in the end. There are no penalties, so none of this is his fault as well.”

When asked how his relationship with Lawson is, he snapped back: ‘I don’t have any relationship with him. I think the way he has come to Formula 1, I don’t think he has the right attitude for it. He needs to be a bit more humble.

“When a two-time world champion was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him. It’s like when you come to Formula 1, you’re obviously very hungry and so on, but you have to be respectful as well, off track and on track.

“I don’t think he’s showing the right attitude. I think he’s a great driver and I hope for him that he can step back and learn from it.

“In his first two grands prix he has had many incidents. I think there will be a point where it can cost him too much, like it did this weekend.

“I just think that he has to have the right attitude to say: ‘Look, probably I’m overdoing it a little bit, I will step back and start again’. Because if you don’t learn from your mistakes, Formula 1 is a brutal world and he might not continue.”

When Perez was asked if he felt Lawson was racing him harder because of the Red Bull seat that is at stake, he responded: “Well, he nearly crashed with Fernando last weekend, he nearly crashed with Franco. I think he’s just racing everyone out of control at the moment.”

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The FIA is assessing if Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc should be investigated and possibly punished for swearing in the Mexico Grand Prix press conference, Motorsport understands.

The incident follows Red Bull’s Max Verstappen receiving a community service punishment for swearing in the build-up to last month’s Singapore GP, which led to the Dutchman boycotting FIA press conferences.

The focus on driver swearing is part of an FIA initiative across all its championships to try and avoid its officials being on the receiving end of abuse – often from large, partisan fanbases of famous drivers – but has been interpreted as a clampdown on driver expression following comments by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in an interview with Motorsport.

In Leclerc’s case, he was asked “what did you say to yourself when you brought the car back?” after finishing third in the Mexico City race won by his team-mate Carlos Sainz – referring to the moment he nearly crashed his Ferrari at the Peraltada corner in front of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Leclerc’s reply included the line: “I had one oversteer and then when I recovered from that oversteer, I had an oversteer from the other side and then I was like, ‘f**k’.”

He then added: “Oh, sorry! Oh, no, oh no! I don’t want to join Max!”

After the press conference, Leclerc was spoken to at length by the FIA’s media delegate, where it is understood Leclerc was again apologetic and understanding of why the discussion was taking place.

Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari, on the grid

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

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As with Verstappen’s case, his comments could be constituted as a breach of Article 12.2.1k of the FIA’s International Sporting Code.

The rule states it is an offence to issue “any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers, and more generally on the interest of motorsport and on the values defended by the FIA”.

After the press conference, Motorsport understands the FIA media delegate had to report the incident to the governing body’s sporting officials and the stewards of the meeting.

They are now in discussions over whether to open a formal investigation into Leclerc’s comments – akin to how racing incidents are first noted by race control officials before being passed to the stewards.

It is unclear at this stage when this will be decided, but at the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP, Mercedes and Ferrari team bosses Toto Wolff and Fred Vasseur were investigated for swearing in the Las Vegas event’s team principals’ press conference the previous week.

Therefore, the FIA could wait until next weekend’s Brazilian GP before announcing an investigation.

That’s if it ever gets that far because Motorsport understands Leclerc’s multiple apologies are already being taken into consideration in the matter.

LANDO NORRIS raged at Max Verstappen for “dangerous” driving after being forced off the track twice during an intense battle at the Mexico Grand Prix.

British Formula 1 driver Norris, 24, came into the weekend knowing he had just five races to make up a 57-point deficit to Verstappen in the drivers’ standings.

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Defending champion Verstappen took the lead of the Mexico GP in the opening lap, but was then passed by pole-sitter Carlos Sainz.

Third-place Norris quickly gained on his title rival in the Red Bull and attempted to overtake around the outside but was cut off by Verstappen.

Norris went off the track and came back on ahead of Verstappen.

The Dutchman then tried to pass Norris and in doing so pushed the McLaren off yet again.

Immediately after the incident, Norris told his team on the radio: “I was ahead the whole way through the corner.

“This guy is dangerous. I just have to avoid a crash. It’s the same as last time.

“I’ll be in the wall in a minute.”

The stewards did not punish Verstappen last weekend when a battle with Norris also saw the Briton run off the track.

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But on this occasion they looked at the incident and gave Verstappen a 10-second penalty for “forcing a driver off the track”.

They then added on another 10-second penalty for “leaving the track and gaining an advantage”.

Reacting to the incident, Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle said: “I had a feeling he would have something else coming his way [another 10-second penalty].

“The first one was rude and cheeky, the second one was just plain dangerous.

“That’s just about a full pit stop, for a penalty.”

After learning of his initial 10-second penalty, Verstappen sarcastically labelled it “quite impressive,” before his engineer claimed there was “a lot of whinging”.

The three-time world champion ended up coming into the pits and served the 20-second penalty in the paddock, before he returned to the race.