Kevin Magnussen endured one of the messiest weekends of his Formula 1 career in Miami last time out. In the space of two days, he doubled his tally of penalty points.
Magnussen came into the weekend with five but picked up three after the sprint race on Saturday. The stewards decided he’d left the track without justification multiple times during his battle with Lewis Hamilton.
The Dane was trying to create a gap for teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who was on course to score two points in seventh. By fair means and foul, he managed to keep Hamilton at bay so the Mercedes driver couldn’t catch up to the German.
Haas were ‘pretty cross’ at the suggestion that they had forced Magnussen to drive in this manner. And he didn’t help matters on Sunday when he collided with Logan Sargeant after what Martin Brundle called a ‘silly’ and ‘unnecessary’ move.
That incident, which took Sargeant out of the race, earned another two penalty points for the former McLaren driver. He’s now only two away from a race ban, and must wait nearly a year before his tally is reduced.
Some in the F1 paddock felt that Magnussen’s driving in Miami was enough to merit a suspension in and of itself. Oscar Piastri is among those who have called for changes to the rules to prevent the tactics he used against Hamilton.
Helmut Marko says Kevin Magnussen deserves his penalty points
Writing in his column for Speedweek, Red Bull executive director Helmut Marko offered his take on Magnussen’s conduct behind the wheel. The Austrian pointed out that RB driver Yuki Tsunoda also suffered from his erratic defensive driving in the sprint.
He agrees with the stewards that the 31-year-old crossed the line. And he feels it’s telling that Magnussen is so close to a ban.
“Another topic was Kevin Magnussen’s performance in the sprint, who did everything he could to slow down his teammate,” he said. “Not only did he stop Hamilton, he also clashed with Yuki. I think he overdid it and it’s not for nothing that he has ten penalty points.”
Kevin Magnussen could lose Haas seat with Valtteri Bottas eyed
Magnussen may have felt he was doing his Haas team a great service on Saturday, but the overriding feeling after the race was that he’d hurt his chances of staying put for 2025. His contract is due to expire at the end of this year.
Hulkenberg is headed to Sauber for 2025, and he may have seen that as good news. Previously, the veteran duo were in a potential shoot-out with Oliver Bearman breathing down their neck, but there’s now a clear vacancy for the Ferrari junior.
However, Magnussen remains under pressure as F1 heads to Imola this weekend. He’s yet to convince team principal Ayao Komatsu that he should stay put.
And Komatsu has begun to assess the market for alternative teammates for Bearman. One of those is Valtteri Bottas, seen as an ideal partner given his race-winning pedigree.
A report elsewhere claims that Zhou Guanyu is currently the ‘favourite’ for his seat. At least one of Zhou and Bottas will lose their spot at the team after Hulkenberg’s arrival.
The post ‘Not for nothing’: Red Bull chief shares his verdict on Kevin Magnussen after Miami Grand Prix antics appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
