Alexander Albon was given a five-second time penalty and two points on his licence for a collision which put Kevin Magnussen out of the British Grand Prix.
The pair made contact at Club at the end of the first lap. Magnussen had run wide after hitting a kerb at the previous corner and Albon tried to dive up the inside of him. The pair tangled, and Magnussen spun into a barrier.After reviewing video of the collision the stewards ruled Albon’s move was “too late” and noted he appeared to try to pull out of the attempt to pass the Haas.
“The stewards reviewed video evidence and determined that Albon was predominantly
at fault for the collision at turn 18 [Club],” they explained.
“Passes at turn 18 are unusual and difficult to execute. While Albon appeared to be the faster car the Stewards determined that he attempted the pass too late and the gap on the inside of car 20 [Magnussen] was always going to diminish.
“It appeared that he attempted to back out of the pass at the last second. The stewards took into account that Magnussen had a slower exit from turn 17.”
Albon now has a total of three five penalty points on his licence.
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Jere (@jerejj)
2nd August 2020, 15:45
Racing incident.
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 16:06
agreed. a rather unfair penalty, especially since Mag had made a mistake and was struggling to regain control
Chaitanya
2nd August 2020, 16:32
Did Albon take Magnussen out of race or not?
aj
2nd August 2020, 17:41
magnussen took himself out by making a mistake and then crossing from one side of the track all the way back to the racing line with no regard to who could already be there
Boudi
2nd August 2020, 18:05
No one said it was a racing incident in case of Ham vs Alb crash. If anything, this was a no brainer, Albon at fault. Shows how biased people can be.
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 19:27
agreed but ‘having no regard’ assumes he had control of the car which IMO he was still trying to get
Will Jones
2nd August 2020, 21:18
@Boudi – I said it was a racing incident – that Albon crossed the racing line and hit Lewis who had given it up
Neiana (@neiana)
2nd August 2020, 22:29
Albon was well alongside and many times that gives reason for him to be there. This penalty was trash.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
2nd August 2020, 19:22
@jerejj YESYESYESYES. So obvious yet the FIA does not get it. Albon’s move was impetuous but it is a racing incident, and so is the Grosjean stuff, he did leave space.
Are overtakes automatic too, engine mapping that is like perfect TC, brake-by-wire that works like sophisticated anti lock brakes, paddle shifts, now DAS that seems to be some sort of active but not active (wink) suspension, and DRS. How fake can we get, is f1 wwe?
Kevin Magnussen
3rd August 2020, 10:21
100% Albons fault and stewards saw this too.
Any driver with experience would know that the gap Kevin is leaving by the small correction in the previous turn, will be closed immediately on the following turn. Albon could have taken Kevin on the next markup in turn 3-4, but the situation clearly demonstrates that Albon is a man under pressure for not performing well, so he takes chances he should not.
Dale
3rd August 2020, 14:22
All it demonstrates is that Magnussen is as dangerous as the other drivers all claim.
He missed the corner & then simply turned back into a gap he’d left and which had already been filled by another car, leaving no space for that car. Albon had 2 choices at that point … go off track to avoid him, or stay on track and make contact.
The faster Magnussen is out the sport the safer F1 will be.
geoffgroom44 (@)
12th August 2020, 7:02
seems the F1 stewards have rumbled KMags tactics, got a penalty for this last race for similar moves,huh?
Lenny (@leonardodicappucino)
2nd August 2020, 15:50
So according to the stewards if you try to capitalise on a rival’s mistake in an non-common overtaking place, and then when they give you no space at all you try to avoid a collision you are at fault? Makes absolutely no sense.
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 16:07
” then when they give you no space”, would be a nice comment if Mag had been incontrol of his car, which he was still struggling to control after his mistake
Blaize Falconberger (@)
3rd August 2020, 7:30
The key words here are ‘no space’ If there is ‘no space’ you can’t overtake. End of argument.
In my mind if Albion is behind you – which he likely will be regardless of having a brilliant car – he’s probably going to hit you when he makes a lunge. He’s developing form.
geoffgroom44 (@)
3rd August 2020, 8:10
it may have escaped your notice that any ‘racer’ who is behind you will attempt to overtake.
As for ‘no space’ it may also have remained unclear to you that MAG had ‘gone off the track’,ergo, there was plenty of space….until MAG rejoined the track and reduced that space. This was otherwise known as an unsafe return to the track as we saw with Vettel last year.
Yep, he sure is developing form…fastest laps a few time in the race, keeping pace with the race winner, moving from the back to 8th (admittedly helped by Pirelli). So strange that when Max or CL or a few others attempt some of these moves, they are applauded. Does this confutation not hit you as ‘peculiar?’
F1oSaurus (@)
2nd August 2020, 15:51
Same racing incident as when Hamilton tried to pass Albon in Brazil. In these times of “let them race” that’s a penalty.
Ronald (@mosquito)
2nd August 2020, 17:24
Where do you see the comparison between those to incidents. Happened in different circumstances and in another part of the corner.
Potsie (@potsie159)
2nd August 2020, 15:59
What does “Albon now has a total of three five penalty points on his licence.” mean ?
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 16:05
yeah, an interesting conundrum :-)
Mattias
2nd August 2020, 16:04
Stewards seem determined to ruin what’s left of the sport after Mercedes ruined the fight for victories once again.
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 16:13
I sincerely hope that RN will appeal this decision from the stewards. But all credit to AA for not being discouraged and fighting back from 17th to 8th (ok, some rivals punctures helped that) and even matching the leaders pace on laps…and setting a few fastest laps.
Whatever people think (or would like to promote) as they opinionate on AA’s departure from RB, it seems pretty clear this man has the guts to do it….and seems to shine most when coming from behind.
He was very close to getting into the points and was then helped further by punctures to others…maybe AA’s luck is finally turning and I do really hope that we can see him on the podium before long, as I believe that would release tremendous motivation in him.
(P.S. I am actually a LH fan…but also like AA’s style and persistence).
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 16:13
RN=RB
ColdFly (@)
2nd August 2020, 16:58
It was a time penalty, which cannot be appealed AFAIK.
@geoffgroom44
Maybe he can appeal the ‘three five penalty points’ and try to get ‘four of a kind’ or at least a ‘full house’.
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 19:32
my apologies for my obvious confusion,but it seems that in the not too far distant (recent) past new evidence presented to the stewards have reversed many decisions…some not favourably.
What I do find interesting about this incident is the comparision with other incidences concerning rejoining the track in a dangerous manner.But I suppose banging away at the kerbs and your car being momentarily out of control is not actually rejoining the track…or is it?
medman (@medman)
2nd August 2020, 16:13
Preposterous penalty. Magnussen throws his car on the curb and gets out of sorts, Albon sees the inside gap on a car that is struggling and puts his car as far to the inside as he could without running off the track, Magnussen then proceeds to drift all the way across the track after his mistake and makes contact, and somehow this series of blunders is Albon’s fault? The stewards need to go away. There must be a better way than this mockery. Guarantee if that was Lewis or Max in that situation, no penalty. Racing incident ruling.
mhop (@mhop)
2nd August 2020, 16:23
What an awful decision by the stewards. They keep going back to their instincts to destroy the sport, don’t they?
Magnussen made an error. In this scenario he should know he’d be at risk of the attempted overtake and he should have left space. He didn’t and he ended up out of the race.
Racing incident all day long.
DAllein (@)
2nd August 2020, 16:32
*facepalm*
Sure, let’s overtake only at designated zones using Fan Boost!
jpvalverde85 (@jpvalverde85)
2nd August 2020, 16:38
Absolutely, racing incident. KMag lost it, Albon went to the gap and kept on the inside, KMag on control or not, on purpose or not, closed too late the gap, he is known for not using his mirrors.
Don Corleone
3rd August 2020, 10:26
Not correct. Kevin makes a small correction and resume the race line. It is 100% Albons fault and stewards saw this too.
Any driver with experience would know that the gap Kevin is leaving by the small correction in the previous turn, will be closed immediately on the following turn. Albon could have taken Kevin on the next markup in turn 3-4, but the situation clearly demonstrates that Albon is a man under pressure for not performing well, so he takes chances he should not.
Kurt Laguna
2nd August 2020, 17:07
If Albon didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all!
Yaru (@yaru)
2nd August 2020, 17:23
Lewis also got five second penalty and two penalty point for his move on Albon on opening race.
Ronald (@mosquito)
2nd August 2020, 17:26
As I said before: how can you compare these two situations? It was in a different part of the corner and Albon was on the curbstones instead of the outer half of the road.
Gigantor (@kbdavies)
3rd August 2020, 1:44
@mosquito – your earlier response was to a comment regarding the Lewis- Albon incident in Brazil 2019, rather than the opening race in 2020.
Indeed, this is definitely just desserts for Albon, as he more or less made the same error in Brazil 2019 as Magnussen made here, whilst he also reacted the same way Lewis did in that same race.
Blaize Falconberger (@)
3rd August 2020, 7:33
@kbdavies excellent observation.
AndrewT (@andrewt)
2nd August 2020, 17:33
@geoffgroom44 Agreed about Albon, and just a sidenote, he is more or less in the same situation, with almost the same F1 experience behind him, as Gasly was at the beginning of last year, struggled to extract the same performance of the car as Verstappen did, and was eventually dropped, but towards the end of the year, he finally got to terms. So I believe albon is going down the same road, but Red Bull should keep him in the car, and towards the end of this season, he will be able close the gap.
About the Magnussen vs Albon case, there are obviously different point of views, we can take into consideration a lot of factors, that Magnussen was or wasn’t in control of his own car, wether he left a car width for the attacking driver or not, wether he even realized that there was someone next to him, or which of them could have done more to avoid the incident. For me, only the fact that Magnussen came off worse and retired from the race doesn’t neccessary mean that he wasn’t to blame for at least 50%. It feels like a racing incident, and the penality points seem to be really harsh.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
2nd August 2020, 18:20
The only thing Albon has to do is finish last in class and not be over half a second slower than his teammate. That’s a really, really low bar and yet, he’s not getting it done.
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 19:36
ehem, did you not notice that prior to Max,on completely new tyres, getting the fastest lap point…AA had a few times been scoring the fastest lap. Equally, AA’s pace had been matching that of the race winner.So, where’s this hal second you are talking about in this race?
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
4th August 2020, 0:46
@geoffgroom44 Albon was matching Verstappens laptimes when Alex was on fresh mediums whilst Max on Hard and trying to make a 1 stop work (as per the timing app).
‘On the pace of the leaders’? Well yes technically, but not really.
geoffgroom44 (@)
4th August 2020, 8:19
I think the point I was trying to make was that AA was matching the leaders,winners,times….not Max’s. Of course I agree AA was on fresher tyres,however,to be matching the mighty mercs on lap times was still an achievement.By lap 36 AA was lapping at 1:29:426 – LH 1:29:693 -VB 1:29:463 – MV 1:30:180 and this continued for many more laps.
Even with fresher tyres it still takes skill and composure to do this 3/4 the way through a race,huh?
Having had the weekend AA had, having been sent to the end of the pack, it was still a reasonable display of skill and persistence that the current anti-AA ‘internet circus’ seems to ignore.
AA is not the best most perfect driver out there….yet :-) and frankly I don’t see anyone getting anywhere near my long supported phenomena LH. But I do think AA is taking some unfair flak ! Maybe he can learn from Lewis how to handle that flak,huh?
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
2nd August 2020, 18:25
I remember another incident not long ago where a car went skittering off track when its rear right tyre rode over the front left of the car to their inside in the corner. It was quite a different incident in other ways, but here’s what RaceFans reported Michael Masi saying at the time:
(https://www.racefans.net/2020/07/07/why-stewards-ruled-hamilton-albon-collision-wasnt-a-racing-incident/)
There are plenty of differences, like that the Austria/ALB/HAM incident happened at the outside of the corner at the exit, whilst this Silverstone/MAG/ALB one was at the apex; and that Albon perhaps helped cause the contact by trying to back out at the point that the wheels were overlapped, whilst in Austria it was a case of the outside car (him again) exiting faster than the inside one. But in any case if it’s actually a fact that stewards will regard contact between overlapping front and rear wheels *not* to be a racing incident, that applies here. And again the car taking contact to the front wheel is judged to blame.
I didn’t like the penalty for HAM nor do I like it for ALB in this case – both because I didn’t see any really reckless or out of control driving from the penalised driver, and because the other driver clearly could had some choices available to them but decided to fight hard. Both of those drivers ended up spinning out to greater or lesser cost. But I’d much rather the treated this stuff as racing incidents.
slowmo (@slowmo)
2nd August 2020, 18:37
After they penalised Hamilton unfairly last time this was justice for the moaning RB did over that incident. In other news how many times does Albon have to hit another car before people realise he’s the problem. Is it 4 races and 4 lots of contact now?
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 19:40
sorry,friend, I am an avid LH fan and have been since he came into F1. I do not agree with your premise that Hamilton had been unfairly judged.
Further, if every driver in F1 was to be considered a problem driver because of coming into contact with another car (regardless of the circumstances?),then we probably would not have any F1 drivers left to put on a race.
slowmo (@slowmo)
3rd August 2020, 0:32
@geoffgroom44 Albon had acres of space on the outside of the corner and cut across Hamilton that race, it was a racing incident and should have been no penalty, exactly the same as this one could have been had RB not kicked up a stink and set a precedent. We are now going to have penalties like this all year because of the poor stewarding in that First race.
Albon is a problem driver and you’ll realise it before the end of the year. Happens to all Young drivers until they get it in their heads that being in the right isn’t a good enough reason to risk ending your race with a silly contact. I don’t think he’s a dirty driver, he’s just making poor choices and veering too much on the risk side. Unfortunately Red Bull is not the best place to learn that lesson as they don’t seem to do honest assessments with their drivers.
You’re entitled to you opinion of course, time will tell though who is right about Albon.
geoffgroom44 (@)
3rd August 2020, 8:16
by ‘cutting across’ do you mean targetting for the racing line?
Yep, he’s young.Yep he has much still to learn.
There are very few of the top tier drivers who did not also go through this same process with many similar incidents.
Vague memories of a ‘mad max’, and a Lewis who infuritated our much loved Alonso.
I even remember Michael doing some rather edgy stuff.
Isn’t this the nature of the game, to keep pushing the limits?
But I agree with you, time will tell and it is quite fantastic to have all this young (even fiery) blood on the tracks now, isn’t it?
Niefer (@niefer)
2nd August 2020, 18:54
Thaat’s right, penalty warranted now for uNuSuaL moves, last year for making the following car to hit the brakes. Leaderships more concerned with politics than with the sport itself… Way to go.
OOliver
2nd August 2020, 19:23
The stewards are a bit daft on this one.
Albon had a genuine reason to attempt diving in because Magnussen had hit the kerbing, run wide and lost momentum.
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 19:41
absolutely. Maybe AA reacted too fast to maximise the opportunity,huh?
WHITEDOG
2nd August 2020, 19:45
Every race he seems to make contact with somebody…the common denominator
Ipsom
2nd August 2020, 20:29
Although I don’t agree with the 5 sec penalty, I can atleast get understand the reasoning… but the penalty points?! For actually racing and trying to capitalize on an opponent’s mistake? Might as well just ban overtakes in the first 2 laps then
Blaize Falconberger (@)
3rd August 2020, 7:37
Competitors make mistakes all the time – if, for each mistake, there was a wild lunge up the inside from an underperforming number 2 driver, there’d be no cars left.
Gav
2nd August 2020, 22:28
What am I reading?
It was a ridiculous attempt, and was never going to work. What did Alex expect Magnussen to do, drive around the outside of the corner to accommodate him (when he (ALB) was going through the corner at full pelt and therefore heading for the exit kerb, where is KMag meant to go?)?
There is letting them race, and then not encouraging poor driving and opportunistic recklessness. Alex just needed to follow MAG through Club and stay in his wheel tracks, he’d have been passed in to Abbey.
Stewards have it (the decision and the explanation) spot on. I would love to see the debate if this was Hamilton hitting Albon.
geoffgroom44 (@)
2nd August 2020, 23:18
maybe he expected Mag to return to the track in a safe manner,huh? Most reports say Mag went off the track.But I agree with you, the stewards should penalise poor driving, especially when drivers leave the track and return in an unsafe maner ‘a la Vettel’
slowmo (@slowmo)
3rd August 2020, 0:37
Magnussen didn’t leave the track so there was no requirement to enter safely. Maybe check the video so you have the facts right on this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51WSlUcOVr8
Sure Magnussen made a mistake but Albon still Tboned him on the apex while being 3/4 behind the car in front.
Jesper Baunsøe (@jesbau)
3rd August 2020, 9:51
Also, I’m pretty sue the rules says; Entering a corner with your car in front makes you the owner of the corner. So despite the mistake in corner 17 MAG was still in front and when Albon pursued an impossible opportunity that existied only for a very brief moment he was in the car behind, making MAG the owner of the corner regardless of the racing line. The penalty is correct.
Blaize Falconberger (@)
3rd August 2020, 7:43
Albon said – after the Ham incident – if Ham had given me more space it wouldn’t have happened (or words to that effect). What he was in fact saying was, if the 7x world champion who is fighting for another world championship and is current championship leader had allowed me to overtake him, it wouldn’t have happened. The ‘I require more space’ is an old and tired excuse and I personally think he’s on another planet thinking people will just avoid him when he does something wildly ambitious. He wants an easy rose but this is F1. I like the man but he’s really disappointing me on-track.
Blaize Falconberger (@)
3rd August 2020, 7:44
*ride
geoffgroom44 (@)
4th August 2020, 8:28
disappointed? really? even though AA was matching the leaders,winners,times….better than Max’s. Of course I agree AA was on fresher tyres,however,to be matching the mighty mercs on lap times was still an achievement.By lap 36 AA was lapping at 1:29:426 – LH 1:29:693 -VB 1:29:463 – MV 1:30:180 and this continued for many more laps.
Even with fresher tyres it still takes skill and composure to do this 3/4 the way through a race,huh?
Having had the weekend AA had, having been sent to the end of the pack for seizing an apparent opportunity, it was still a reasonable display of skill and persistence that the current anti-AA ‘internet circus’ seems to ignore.
AA is not the best most perfect driver out there….yet :-) and frankly I don’t see anyone getting anywhere near my long supported phenomena LH. But I do think AA is taking some unfair flak ! Maybe he can learn from Lewis how to handle that flak,huh?
tony mansell
3rd August 2020, 9:19
Helps if you have got some form behind you before ‘if you don’t go for gap you no longer racing driver’. A man who is in 10 incidents and NONE of them his fault will find himself without a drive pretty quickly. Its up to him, you want a drive or you want to be right.