Magnussen nearing race ban after latest Miami GP penalty

Kevin Magnussen is on the verge of a race ban after picking up another penalty in the Miami Grand Prix.

Saturday’s sprint race saw Magnussen pick up three penalty points for repeat offenses when fighting with Lewis Hamilton, having already earned a time penalty that was going to drop him out of the top eight. Then on Sunday, Magnussen was deemed to be wholly to blame for causing a collision with Logan Sargeant, sending the Williams out of the race, and earning another two penalty points.

The penalties over the Miami weekend lead to five points, and with Magnussen also earning five across incidents in Saudi Arabia and China -- for colliding with Yuki Tsunoda on each occasion -- he is now on 10 penalty points since early March. Two further points between now and 9 March 2025 -- the date one year from the first incident -- would trigger an automatic one-race ban for the Haas driver.

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Explaining the latest decision, the stewards pointed to the fact that Magnussen was not far enough alongside Sargeant to be entitled to racing room.

“Per the Driving Standards Guidelines, in order for car No. 20 to be given room for an overtaking attempt on the outside, car No. 20 needed to have the front axle at least alongside the front axle of the other car at the apex of Turn 2.

“It was clear that car No. 20 did not have its front axle in that position such that it was entitled to room in that corner. Further, if this is looked at purely as an overtaking on the inside of Turn 3, car No. 20 would also not have had the right to the corner, by the standards for an inside overtake.

“Even if this was viewed as a sequence of corners or a chicane, the decision remains the same. Per the guidelines, priority will be given to the first corner and if you do not have the right to be given room, then you do not get the benefit for the next corner.”

Should Magnussen miss a race at any point this season, Haas can call on either Ollie Bearman or Pietro Fittipaldi as its reserve drivers.