Guilty of hitting Pierre Gasly on lap 18 of the Italian GP, Kevin Magnussen has been given a two-point penalty on his license. Two points too many since he will be suspended in Baku. A big first in F1.
In Formula 1, each driver has 12 points on their license. For each incident, points are taken off their license and if a driver reaches this limit, they are suspended. This is what happened to Kevin Magnussen. The Dane had been driving with a sword of Damocles hanging over his head since the Miami GP in May. He was two points away from a four-month suspension and the Haas driver made another mistake on Sunday in Italy.
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Au 18e lap, Magnussen tried to attack Pierre Gasly at the end of the first sector but he mishandled his overtake and hit the Frenchman. He was therefore given a ten-second penalty and the race director also added two points to his license, bringing the total to 12. Synonymous with a suspension for the Azerbaijan GP in two weeks. Haas can appeal this decision but it seems unlikely that the FIA will reverse its decision, especially since Magnussen is the first driver to find himself in this situation since 2014 and the introduction of this points-based license.
So what is the solution for Haas? They need to find a replacement driver and that could be Oliver Bearman, who will drive in the American team next year, but for that, they need Ferrari’s approval since the Briton is the Scuderia’s third driver.