Kevin Magnussen will not be on the grid for the next round of the world championship after picking up five penalties in the space of 15 rounds.
He is the first Formula 1 driver to be barred from a round of the championship under the penalty points system which the FIA introduced 10 years ago.
Magnussen’s latest penalty, for a collision with Pierre Gasly, added two further points to the 10 he carried since the Miami Grand Prix in May. That took him to the threshold of 12 which results in an automatic ban.
Of Magnussen’s four previous penalties, three were also for collisions with other drivers. He received two points for his contact with Yuki Tsunoda in China and Logan Sargeant in Miami. His other collision, when he squeezed Alexander Albon into a barrier in Jeddah, was deemed serious enough to be worth three penalty points.
Magnussen also received three penalty points for an unusual series of incidents in the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix. He was penalised four times for leaving the track and gaining an advantage as he tried to prevent Lewis Hamilton from overtaking him. Although the stewards have stopped giving penalty points for most track limits offences, they ruled Magnussen’s driving was “exceptional” on this occasion.
Were Magnussen’s five incidents enough to warrant a one-race ban? Or has the first application of the automatic ban for 12 penalty points showed the system is too harsh?
For
Of the five incidents Magnussen was penalised for, his Monza clash with Gasly was the least consequential. Unlike in China and Miami, he did not put his rival out of the race.
However it was another careless piece of driving which resulted in contact. The penalty points system exists to keep a track of drivers who persistently commit driving offences, which is exactly what it has done in Magnussen’s case.
Importantly, the stewards are supposed to issue penalties based on the incidents themselves, not on their consequences, which is why Magnussen did not receive a harsher penalty for causing collisions which resulted in retirements.
Against
Magnussen has committed some incidents worth of significant penalties this year, but taken together they are not serious enough to be worth banning him from a race.
In particular, his cornering-cutting antics in Miami may have been cynical but they were not dangerous. At Monza, the stewards should have been prepared to say ‘no harm, no foul’ and not penalise…
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