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Magnussen banned for Azerbaijan Grand Prix after being penalised for Gasly clash in Monza
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen has been hit with a one-race ban after being penalised for clashing with Alpine rival Pierre Gasly during the Italian Grand Prix, with the penalty points received tipping him over the limit for the season.
It was an eventful race for Haas at Monza as Nico Hulkenberg was handed a 10-second time penalty early on following a collision with the RB of Yuki Tsunoda, before Magnussen later received the same punishment for his incident with Gasly.
The Dane had tried to overtake the Alpine down the inside of Turn 4 but locked up and subsequently made contact. In their verdict, the stewards felt that Magnussen was “wholly to blame for” this, having deemed that he did not drive in a “safe and controlled manner through the manoeuvre”.
Despite scoring a point by crossing the line in P10, Magnussen’s penalty means that he has received an additional two penalty points on his licence. This takes his total to 12 and, should a driver reach this total over a 12-month period, they will be issued with a one-race ban.
As such, Magnussen will now be forced to miss the next Grand Prix in Azerbaijan, with an official document from the FIA confirming the punishment.
Stating a breach of Article 4.2 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, the note reads: “The Super Licence of the driver of Car 20 is suspended for the next Competition of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship. Following this suspension, 12 penalty points will be removed.”
The last F1 driver to receive a race ban was Romain Grosjean back in 2012, when he was racing for Lotus, after he caused a multi-car crash at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix that season.
Speaking after the race – and prior to his ban being confirmed – Magnussen had been positive about his performance in the Italian Grand Prix but admitted that he did not agree with the 10-second penalty that he received.
“Happy with our race. I don’t know what’s going on with these penalties,” the 31-year-old said. “I mean, what’s the point? We had a slight contact into Turn 4, no damage on either car. It had no consequence, nobody lost anything. We both missed the corner but, hey, we’re racing.
“I just don’t get the point, honestly. I saw Nico almost had 300km/h, almost hit the barrier with the contact with [Daniel] Ricciardo and he [Ricciardo] got five seconds. I got 10 seconds for this. At this point, I don’t know what’s going on.
“Happy with today’s point, happy with the balance and the performance in the car and the strategy, so we can take that onwards.”
Asked if he intends to speak to the stewards about the matter, Magnussen added: “Yeah, I have to. It doesn’t make any sense. It makes zero sense.”
Magnussen 'doesn't know what is happening' with penalties but finishes P10
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