Fernando Alonso Questions Kevin Magnussen's Race Ban - 'Harder To Understand'

Saajan Jogia | Sep 3, 2024

May 5, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Aston Matrin driver Fernando Alonso (14) walks into the F1 Village before the F1 Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports / peter casey-usa today sports

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso has sympathized with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen after he incurred a race ban during the Italian Grand Prix for making contact with Pierre Gasly's A524 F1 car. Alonso revealed that Magnussen receiving such a harsh punishment for an incident was something he didn't understand.

The Dane was handed two additional penalty points on his super license for a collision with Pierre Gasly at Turn 4, along with a 10-second time penalty. This brought his total to 12 points over the past year, resulting in an automatic race ban for the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, scheduled for mid-September.

Though the collision wasn't severe enough to force either car out of the race, the race stewards ruled Magnussen's move unsafe and uncontrolled. As a result, he was cited for violating Article 2(d) of Chapter IV, Appendix L, of the FIA International Sporting Code.

This is the first instance since the introduction of penalty points in 2014 that a driver has received a one-race suspension. Alonso criticized the decision as being severe, arguing that penalty points were intended to address dangerous driving and similar infractions, not to result in race bans. He told the media:

“100%. Because, I mean, penalty points, as we’ve discussed many times, should be for dangerous driving, something that is a danger for the sport and for the others.

“And I think a couple of those points that he accumulated, I’m not sure. I don’t have the list here. But sometimes it’s just pit lane, white line, unsafe releases, all these kind of things. I mean, this is part of racing.

“This is a drive-through. This is a five-second penalty. I understand the racing penalties, but the safety penalties are a little bit harder to understand.”

The Spaniard wasn't the first to voice his opinion in favor of the Haas driver. Gasly, who was involved in the incident with Magnussen, told the same source yesterday that the punishment was "unfair." He said:

“Someone told me he got a 10 seconds penalty. I'm a bit surprised for that because he tried, but it was a bit of wheel to wheel and in the end I really didn't lose any time. I'm a bit surprised.

“I hope somehow they can revert on that because that will would be definitely unfair. I'll be happy to do- I'll see what I can do. That will feel very unfair for the incident that it was.”