Kevin Magnussen Gathers Support From Drivers On 'Harsh' Baku Ban

Saajan Jogia | Sep 13, 2024

Kevin Magnussen / Haas Press Image

Formula 1 drivers have voiced concerns about the sport's penalty points system that led to Haas driver Kevin Magnussen's harsh race ban from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku, asking for the existing penalty guidelines to be reviewed.

During the Italian Grand Prix, Magnussen was given a 10-second time penalty and two additional penalty points on his super license after a collision with Pierre Gasly at Turn 4. This brought his total to 12 points over the past year, triggering an automatic race ban for the Azerbaijan GP.

Magnussen's attempt to overtake Gasly on the inside led to contact between his Haas VF-24 and Gasly's Alpine A524. Although neither car retired, the race stewards deemed the move unsafe and uncontrolled, citing Magnussen for violating Article 2(d) of Chapter IV, Appendix L, of the FIA International Sporting Code.

His teammate Nico Hulkenberg criticized the penalty as being "harsh," arguing that Magnussen's move on Gasly was just a racing incident. He suggested the need for a review of the current rules governing such situations. He told the media:

"Obviously, there's a history of how that happened and he accumulated all those penalty points but if you look just isolated at the Monza incident, I think, that's racing.

"I mean, it's pretty straightforward, fair and square racing. I don't see two penalty points for that, or that 10-second penalty even - that's very harsh.

"That's my opinion, but most drivers feel the same way about that. I had a case with Fernando [Alonso] in Austria, in the sprint race, where I kind of tried to make a move in turn three, and locked up and went a bit wide, and he had to go off the track.

"But, I mean, that's racing; to overtake we have to leave the comfort zone and take some risk and then that kind of happens sometimes.

"It seems a bit that the stewards, whenever there's a little contact, they want to get involved. They want to have a consequence for it, which I think the drivers feel is not really necessary for every contact. Maybe the penalty guidelines need to be reviewed and then changed because we need to be able to race."

VCARB driver Yuki Tsunoda revealed that he had been in a similar position in the past when he had almost attracted a race ban. The Japanese driver feels the 12-point system is too "strict" for a 24-race calendar. He added:

"I was in that situation, I almost got banned two years ago," Tsunoda said. "If I understood correctly, the penalty points didn't seem to change from once they introduced the maximum points they can reach.

"It feels like that penalty points should get a little bit more compliant, I guess - it seems still kind of strict for 24 races, but at the same time, they had to do it [ban Magnussen] I guess.

"If the track limits get penalty points, that's too much then. You get enough penalty in the race in race results.

"I don't think it's necessary to put it the penalty points, but collision like now, I guess it's good to have, but case by case, for sure.

"But also, it seems to look case by case anyway, because some of the cases that they put to the driver one point instead of two, it depends on the situation."

Mercedes driver George Russell also perceived the penalty as a severe punishment but suggested that it could serve as an example for drivers in the junior categories. He said:

"It's a conversation that's been had a number of times in previous years, as drivers have sailed close to the wind.

"No one's been banned in 12 years, so you could argue, were the penalty points actually harsh enough? You could argue for sure his penalty points from Monza seemed a little bit harsh, but you could also argue some of the other incidents perhaps were not harsh enough.

"So yeah, I think also we need to set a bit of a precedent as well for the junior series. Those guys look up to us in F4, F3, F2 and you shouldn't be allowed to get away with dangerous or erratic driving and at some point, you do need to be punished for it."

Magnussen's Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu questioned if the "penalty guideline" was correct. He said:

"I think according to the penalty guideline, the penalty that was given on that particular incident, I can't really argue. But it's more a question of if that penalty guideline is correct."