Magnussen on edge of race ban after Miami penalty points

Kevin Magnussen received multiple penalties during the Miami GP weekend.

The last three days in Miami have been catastrophic for Kevin Magnussen. Worse still for the Dane, it could become even worse as the stewards conduct further investigations. After spending several laps in the points on Saturday, problems continued to pile on for Magnussen. After three days of action, the Haas driver will be happy to put the Miami GP behind him.

Earlier in the season, Ayao Komatsu was vocal in defending the 31-year-old in the face of criticism. After holding up the pack in Jeddah, some team principals were unhappy with the tactics Haas used. On that occasion, the consensus was that Magnussen defended well to help secure points for the team.

On paper, the situation during Saturday’s Sprint Race was not too dissimilar. However, on this occasion, both drivers were in the points – running in P7 and P8. Unfortunately for Magnussen, losing DRS to his teammate left him vulnerable to Lewis Hamilton.

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Magnussen accumulates penalty points

What followed was an intense and objectively scrappy duel between the Haas and Mercedes. The #20 car was handed numerous penalties, including three penalty points, raising his 12-month total to eight.

Reaching 12 penalty points in a 12-month period results in a race ban. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella actually called for this punishment yesterday, arguing that Magnussen deserved a harsher penalty for his cumulative incidents.

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Potentially more punishments on the way

Whilst this situation is far from ideal, things are now even worse for the Haas driver. After making contact with Logan Sargeant, he was given a 10-second time penalty during the Miami GP. This wasn’t the end of his troubles, though.

The stewards have confirmed post-race that Magnussen has received two additional penalty points for this infringement. This brings Magnussen to 10 penalty points. Only two away from a race ban.

There were the Dane’s comments to the media post-race:

“Yeah, not a good day again. Hopefully, I can get some clarity on things going forward, and, yeah, what happened today – of course – is not good. 

“Nonetheless, I’ve got to try and move on and have a better weekend next weekend.”

Amidst such a hectic race, which saw Lando Norris claim victory, Magunssen’s incident could have gone under the radar. Regrettably, his driving on Saturday meant that he was already under the microscope heading into today’s Grand Prix.

Depending on the FIA’s verdict and official documents, more penalty points could be on the way. In this scenario, an already difficult scenario could morph into something even more worrying.

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