Yahoo Autos F1 drivers call for review of penalty points after Magnussen ban
Multiple Formula 1 drivers have said they expect the series’ penalty points system to be reviewed as a result of Kevin Magnussen’s one-race ban at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Magnussen picked up the final two penalty points that triggered the ban for causing a collision with Pierre Gasly in Monza, with light contact between the pair resulting in both drivers run off at the second chicane and continue in the order they arrived. Magnussen had been attempting to overtake but was penalized after reaching 12 penalty points within the past 12 months, and his teammate Nico Hulkenberg believes such a ban risks harming the quality of racing overall.
“I didn’t see two penalty points in that, and a 10-second penalty is very harsh in my opinion, and most drivers feel the same way about that,” Hulkenberg said. “I had a case with Fernando [Alonso] in the Austria Sprint race where I tried to make a move into Turn 3, locked up, went wide and he had to go off the track, but that is racing.
“To overtake, we have to leave our comfort zone, and take some risks and then this kind of thing happens sometimes. In my case with Fernando, and also with [Magnussen and] Pierre, both drivers said: ‘It’s nothing’ so it seems that whenever there is a little bit of contact, the stewards want to get involved, they want to have a consequence for it.
“The drivers feel that it isn’t really necessary for every contact so maybe the penalty guidelines need to be reviewed and changed because we need to be able to race and it is just difficult otherwise.
“It will be boring and dull as we can’t race anymore — we’ll just get penalized all the time. But I am sure it will come up in the drivers’ meeting, and there will be talks with [race director] Niels Wittich.”
Hulkenberg’s point of view was largely shared by Alex Albon, although the Williams driver felt Magnussen had exploited the rules at earlier points in the season and was deserving of some stronger punishments on other occasions.
“I don’t think anyone’s a real fan of it,” Albon said. “Punishment in the race itself should be what’s done. If I look back at the incidents which Kevin created in a couple of races, those races he should have been penalized much more than he was. That set a precedent and he kept repeating them. It’s got a little bit messy.
“There’s been a couple that have been dangerous, but some of them have not been. So it seems a little bit odd. It even seems odd that it resets straight after your one-race ban and then you are on a clean slate again. So I don’t quite understand it.
“We have spoken about it in drivers’ briefings. Everyone’s under an understanding that we’ve just got to shuffle the system around a little bit. It needs to be a little more forgiving around what constitutes penalty points. If it’s done right it can be OK to have. I think the whole system is going to get reworded. Some of it will be addressed for next year.”
Yuki Tsunoda suggested the threshold needs to be increased given the number of races that are now taking place over a 12-month period.
“I was in a similar situation and almost got banned two years ago,” Tsunoda said. “The penalty points didn’t seem to be changed over the last 10 years, since they were introduced. Now, it feels like the penalty points should get a little bit more compliant — it seems kind of strict for 24 races. But at the same time everyone is in the same position, so we have to deal with it.”
As much as Magnussen’s move on Gasly has been defended as not worthy of triggering a ban by most drivers, George Russell says there needs to be a line drawn somewhere for repeat offenses, and that Magnussen had multiple other incidents that could not be allowed to reoccur.
“It’s a conversation which has been had in previous years as drivers sail close to the wind,” Russell said. “No one has been banned in 12 years so, you could argue, were the penalty points harsh enough?
“His penalty points in Monza were harsh but you could argue that some of the others were not harsh enough. Also, we need to set a precedent for the junior series. You shouldn’t be able to get away with dangerous or erratic driving. At some point, you need to be punished for it.”
