First off, I'm not sure I liked the format so much. Best scenario for a driver is they move up a couple of spots on the grid. Worst case is there's a mishap, there's not time to recover, and they go to the back of the grid. In the end it really only effects the race for those who had mishaps.
As far as penalties, I'm of the opinion that the stewards are overzealous giving them out. Let them race! Most the penalties they administer are just racing incidents and should not have penalties. By assessing penalties for these they discourage the type of racing they want to encourage! It's totally absurd. Keep penalties for just the full on stupid mistakes. Not for drivers trying to go wheel to wheel and race through a turn.