Magnussen penalty taker. The stewards have already left him alone, Stella suggests that he sit at home for one weekend – F1sport.cz

Kevin Magnussen was penalized 5 seconds for leaving the track for no apparent reason, saw the black and white flag for the track limits and most importantly received a 10 second penalty three times for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in the duel with Hamilton. So a total of 35 seconds.

He said after the sprint that he deserved the penalty and that he doesn’t like racing like this, but after coming to a teammate for DRS, he had no choice.

In the end, he won two points for the team – but Hülkenberg didn’t get them, Hamilton (later also penalized) and Cunoda couldn’t catch them.

He had to go to the sports commissioners

After the sprint, Magnussen had to go to the stewards, who said the session was long. He was investigated for possible unsportsmanlike conduct.

According to the minutes, they checked in particular the second and third exits from the track.

“We were also aware of the impact these offenses could have had on the spacing of the cars in front of him and in particular the car 20 team-mate in car 27 (Hülkenberg),” the stewards said.

“The stewards were informed of an interview given by the driver of Car 20 to the media immediately after the sprint, in which he stated, among other things: ‘I started using these stupid tactics which I don’t like to do… But in the end I was doing my job as a team player… Nico got points because I gave him a lead.'”

“We therefore wanted to investigate whether the driver of car 20 had deliberately disregarded the regulations in order to gain an advantage for his team or his team-mate and, if so, whether such conduct would have breached Article 12.2.1.L of the FIA ​​International Sporting Regulations. “

“The driver openly explained that he believed he had the right to race the 44 car and that he was willing to accept what he believed to be the standard penalties that would be imposed on him for any infractions that occurred during the battle for position.”

“He was also of the opinion that creating a gap between him and the cars in front of him was correct and it was not unusual for a driver to try to help his team-mate during the race. At no point did he think what he was doing was wrong or unsportsmanlike in any way.”

The stewards said they did not approve of the way car 20 was driven, particularly the repeated infringements when leaving the track, but did not believe that this action rose to the level of unsportsmanlike conduct. Magnussen was thus not punished any further.

According to them, however, it is necessary to discuss whether, in the event that a rider violates the rules repeatedly, they should not be able to give him more severe punishments.

8 penalty points

Magnussen received 3 penalty points in the sprint. He has a total of 8 out of 12. He earned all eight points this year, so they will not be deducted until next season – specifically, in addition to the sprint in Miami, he earned them in Jeddah for a collision with Albon and in China for a collision with Cunoda.

If he gets another 4 points this year, he will be banned from the race and Oliver Bearman will probably have another race this year.

Stella would leave him at home for the weekend

McLaren boss Andrea Stella would not wait to reach 12 points.

“For me it’s actually quite simple because we have a case of intentional conduct in the sense of harming another competitor,” said Stella, as quoted by Motorsport Week.

“This behavior is repeated within one race and repeated over the course of a season. How can penalties be accumulated? They should be exponential. It’s not five plus five plus five equals fifteen. Five plus five plus five equals something like, ‘maybe you need to spend the weekend at home with your family, think about your sportsmanship and then come back.'”

“And if we see you become loyal, fair and sportsmanlike to your colleagues, then you can stay in this business. It is completely unacceptable.”

According to Stella, the existence of penalty points is important, but at the time of the interview, he did not know the situation of specific drivers.

“But it can certainly mean that metrics may need to be adjusted. Deliberately harming competitors just doesn’t make sense from a sporting point of view and it should be dealt with immediately, because if you’re out of points and get a 20 second penalty or something like that at the end of the race, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“But the riders you damaged, you put them out of the race. Again, deliberately, permanently and repeatedly. This is completely unacceptable.”

According to Stella, “we have to give everyone a fair chance to compete.”

“But I’m sure the FIA ​​will look into it and come up with a sensible proposal that will be reviewed by the Sporting Advisory Committee and hopefully soon become either rules or guidelines that the stewards can apply.”