Image by Hone/LAT
Magnussen furious with 'unfair' penalty
Kevin Magnussen is furious at the penalty he received during the Russian Grand Prix despite scoring his first points for Haas in five races.
While defending from Sergio Perez in a fight for seventh place, Magnussen ran wide at Turn 1 and had to go around two bollards before rejoining. As the Dane only navigated one of the bollards, he was given a five-second time penalty even though he lost the position as a result of the off. He said the decision was unfair as it ultimately cost him another place -- dropping him to ninth behind Lando Norris -- after the checkered flag.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1178287740061933568
“I was hard done by today, no doubt about it,” Magnussen said. “This is bullsh*t. We have this Turn 2 which is a crap corner, it’s just stupid. Just put gravel there or something.
“I’m not a safety expert and never will be, but I think the way it happened today was I missed that corner, went through a load of crap off the line on the run off, lost a hell of a lot of time, and then got penalized. The FIA didn’t have to do anything; it wasn’t black and white, and yet they chose to give me a penalty.”
With it not possible to protest, Magnussen said he hopes the FIA analyze the incident to deal with it differently in future.
“What can I do? I’m sure they will see it after. I have a feeling that they’ve made a mistake and that they’re going to see that and do a better job next time. They’re human as well, so they can make mistakes; but I hope they see (them).”
With the penalty leaving him under threat from cars behind, Magnussen says he is proud of the finish to the race he produced in an attempt to pull a big enough gap to not lose any positions.
https://twitter.com/HaasF1Team/status/1178290722417582080
“I am happy -- I am really happy about the race; satisfied with the performance today. But it’s quite overshadowed by this ... disappointment. I feel let down.
“I got told I had that penalty; the team said, ‘We need everything from you now’. They gave me maximum engine power, using way more than we should have, but they timed it perfectly so I could use all my energy. I had to do six qualifying laps, and I absolutely nailed all of them. I obviously had the car to do it as well; everything was perfect for that scenario.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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