Magnussen hit with race ban after collision in Monza

Kevin Magnussen has been handed a one-race ban and will miss the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after exceeding the season limit for penalty points following his collision with Pierre Gasly at the Italian Grand Prix.

Attempting to overtake his Alpine rival down the inside of Turn 4, the Haas driver locked up and was unable to avoid making contact at the corner, however, neither car sustained damage. 

Magnussen went on to finish in P10, taking home one championship point while accumulating two additional penalty points.

The tenth-place finish marks Magnussen’s third successful points-scoring effort this season, and his first point at Monza in 10 years.

Sitting on 12 penalty points after the Italian Grand Prix, the out-of-contract driver has reached his total and incurred a one-race ban to be severed at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in two weeks.

Speaking before the confirmation of the one-race ban, the 31-year-old said he was “happy with our race”. 

“I don’t know what’s going on with these penalties,” Magnussen 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.”

Declared “wholly to blame for” the incident, the stewards’ verdict stated that Magnussen did not drive in a “safe and controlled manner through the manoeuvre” and was in breach of Article 4.2 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.

“The Super Licence of the driver of Car 20 is suspended for the next Competition of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship,” the note read.

“Following this suspension, 12 penalty points will be removed.”

Asked if he intended to discuss the original penalty with the stewards, Magnussen added: “Yeah, I have to. It doesn’t make any sense. It makes zero sense.”

A familiar face to Magnussen, the last driver to receive a race ban was his former teammate, Romain Grosjean.

In 2012, the then-Lotus driver caused a multi-car crash at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, the catalyst for his race on the sidelines.

The news of the Dane’s suspension rounded out a busy day on track in Monza for the Haas team, with Nico Hulkenberg also upsetting the stewards with his on-track behaviour. 

Originally, the German driver found himself a victim after being squeezed onto the grass by Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap, however, after taking revenge on the Australian’s RB teammate, Hulkenberg was soon hit with a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Yuki Tsunoda.

The heavy contact at Turn 1 resulted in the #22’s retirement from the race, and left Hulkenberg to finish out the Italian Grand Prix in a wounded VF-24.

On a positive note for the team, the one-race ban could pose the perfect opportunity for Oliver Bearman to jump back behind the F1 wheel, with a potential Haas debut on the cards in Baku ahead of his full-time arrival in 2025.

Image: Simon Galloway / LAT Images

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