Kevin Magnussen put up a strong fight against Lewis Hamilton for many laps in yesterday’s sprint race.
However for much of the time he knew he was likely to finish last even if he kept his rivals behind. Not for the first time this year, he was doing so for the benefit of his team mate Nico Hulkenberg ahead, as Magnussen admitted afterwards.That prompted the stewards to consider whether he had overstepped the mark and driven in an “unsportsmanlike” way. He collected a remarkable four time penalties, three of which for leaving the track and gaining an advantage as he repeatedly cut the course to keep Hamilton behind him.
Tellingly, while the stewards cleared Magnussen, they also told the FIA to give them greater powers to penalise drivers who commit similar acts in the future. We have seen more examples of teams using one car to delay the field and assist their other car in recent races, and it seems the stewards are wary some might push the rules too far.
Although Magnussen freely admitted afterwards he had been driving to help Hulkenberg, the radio exchanges between him and his race engineer Mark Slade reveal surprisingly few messages about this. Clearly as Magnussen ran behind Hulkenberg he understood the importance of keeping Hamilton behind not just for his own benefit but also his team mate’s, without needing to be told.
When the race restarted after the Safety Car period, Magnussen held the final points-paying position behind his team mate. Haas suspected Hamilton behind had damage from his first-lap contact with Fernando Alonso:
| Slade | During the Safety Car period We’ve heard that Hamilton may be struggling with some damage to his car so his pace may not be as good as we might expect. Not sure that really helps that much but just be aware. |
| Magnussen | Copy. |
| Slade | Before the restart So I’ve got no information I can give you, unfortunately, from the GPS. |
| Magnussen | Just watch the television and tell me when they’re going. |
| Slade | The trouble is Kev it’s on a lag so it may not be very accurate, that’s all. Radio is on. |
Magnussen’s chances of keeping Hamilton behind him took a hit when Hulkenberg ahead cut the chicane at turn 14 and 15. That allowed him to reach the next DRS detection line over a second before Magnussen, meaning the chasing Haas was no longer able to open its rear wing, leaving him more vulnerable to Hamilton.
Soon afterwards Magnussen asked Haas to tell Hulkenberg to back off and give him the benefit of DRS. There was no indication from Hulkenberg’s radio communications that he received any such message:
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| Magnussen | Hulkenberg cut the chicane on the previous lap, Magnussen then does the same on this lap Nico should drop back to give me DRS. |
| Slade | Copy. Nine laps to go. |
When Hamilton attacked Magnussen, the Haas driver kept his position by leaving the track. With the field so close behind him, and the race so short, the penalty he received for this effectively meant he was immediately doomed to finish last.
| Slade | Magnussen is told of his first penalty after leaving the track and making contact with Hamilton at turn 11 Okay Kev we’ve got a 10-second penalty for gaining an advantage going off-track. |
| Slade | For info all cars behind are within 10 seconds of us so we are effectively last now. Sorry mate. |
| Slade | Seven laps to go at the end of this one. |
Hamilton kept his race engineer Peter Bonnington fully aware of Magnussen’s behaviour:
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| Bonnington | So Magnussen may not have DRS this lap. |
| Hamilton | Very slow on the straight. |
| Bonnington | Okay. Copy. |
| Hamilton | Magnussen defends his position at turn 11, then cuts the chicane at turn 14 He just gained an advantage. Skipped the chicane. |
| Bonnington | Okay, copy. |
| Hamilton | He’s kept the advantage as well. |
| Hamilton | Magnussen defends his position at turn 11, leaves the track and makes contact with Hamilton as he rejoins Yeah he just drove into me. |
| Bonnington | Copy, we’ve got that on video. |
| Bonnington | Magnussen has a 10-second penalty for gaining an advantage. Hulkenberg 2.6 ahead of him. |
On lap 14 Hamilton moved fully ahead of Magnussen on the outside as they approached turn 11. Magnussen went in so deep he ran wide, forcing Hamilton off with him, which allowed Yuki Tsunoda to pass the Mercedes driver.
Finally, with five laps remaining, Magnussen apparently decided to ensure he didn’t get into any more trouble. While the world television feed was showing replays, he backed off approaching turn four, allowing both Tsunoda and Hamilton to pass him.
| Slade | Suggest front three for turns four to six for understeer. Safety car window is open. |
| Slade | Okay we’ve got black and white flag for track limits, Kev, so if you get one it’ll be a penalty. |
| Magnussen | So I have a 10-second penalty right? |
| Slade | You do have a 10-second penalty, yeah. And we’re getting track warning limits for turn 11. |
| Slade | Hamilton and Magnussen both go off at turn 11, Tsunoda passes Hamilton Five more laps, Kev, five more laps. Car behind is Tsunoda. |
| Slade | Magnussen backs off on the entry to turn four and lets Tsunoda and Hamilton past Bravo 10 position three, please Kev. Bravo 10 position three. |
With that Magnussen ticked off the final laps until the end of the race. After taking the chequered flag he told the team “nice teamwork” and checked his team mate’s seventh place finish was not in doubt:
| Slade | Car behind is Gasly, he’s got DRS, 0.7 behind. |
| Slade | Kev we’ve got another 10-second penalty now for gaining advantage again. |
| Slade | Okay Kev that’s chequered flag. Mode ‘in’ please Kev. |
| Magnussen | Yeah. Nice teamwork though. Thank you. |
| Slade | So we were classified 17th because three cars didn’t finish the race. Verstappen won the sprint, Leclerc, Perez third, Ricciardo fourth, Sainz fifth, Piastri sixth, Nico seventh, Hamilton eighth, Tsunoda ninth, Gasly 10th et cetera. |
| Magnussen | No penalties to Nico? |
| Slade | No, no penalties for Nico. Hamilton is under investigation for speeding in the pit lane, so he might lose his position. Should put Tsunoda into the point finishing place. |
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2024 Miami Grand Prix
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oweng (@oweng)
5th May 2024, 16:15
Instead of letting drivers sacrifice themselves by accumulating time penalties the stewards could just have an option to instruct one car to fall behind another.
MichaelN
5th May 2024, 17:05
The race director already has that option, and it’s not limited in any way to a set of prescribed penalties (which the stewards have to pick from in the case of so-called ‘Incidents’).
33.3 “At the absolute discretion of the Race Director a driver may be given the opportunity to give back the whole of any advantage he gained by leaving the track.”
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
5th May 2024, 17:21
It doesn’t work, you see? A driver may be given the opportunity, reminds me of perez back in monza 2021: let the other car by or risk getting a penalty, and the team decides together with the driver to go for the penalty, and especially in a case like this where magnussen had nothing to lose himself, the penalty is an easy choice.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
5th May 2024, 17:21
What we need is a rule FORCING the driver to give the place back.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
5th May 2024, 17:41
Agreed — or, if you actually want to deter the behavior, multiple positions, more than the one that was being contested. Otherwise, a driver will simply risk doing the illegal thing and give up the place if it doesn’t come off.
IndyCar often dishes out in-race position penalties, forcing drivers to give up multiple positions on track, regardless of the time interval between the cars. It’s a much stiffer penalty and simply a cleaner way of doing things than adding time.
mystic one (@mysticus)
5th May 2024, 17:43
we need to have a lap rule. give the position within 1 lap, or face DSQ at the harshest or drive through at the least! they will not do this again. Drive through the first time, and DSQ in the second warning, in the same race! 3 unsportsmenlike behaviour penalty and 1 race ban. Lets see who will try these shenanigans! Blocking slowing within regulations is fine, but the way mag is driving is beyond silly! He force pep off, cut chicane, and all he gets is tap on his wrist!
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
5th May 2024, 17:36
I would fully support that, but I don’t think that language grants that power. “Giving” a driver an “opportunity to give back” an advantage is not an instruction nor a penalty, and I struggle to see why Magnussen would leap at said opportunity to give up a place to avoid being referred to stewards who are powerless to meaningfully penalise him.
Edvaldo
5th May 2024, 16:20
Terrible look for Haas.
Coventry Climax
5th May 2024, 16:21
Just like Alonso anounced he’d go offtrack in the first corner, just because so many others already did so before him, gained advantage yet all got away it due to first lap lenience, Magnussen here shows the flaws in the current ruleset and stewarding system.
Most seem to blame Magnussen for his/this behaviour, including the stewards themselves, apparently.
It’s about time they have a good look at themselves, and figure out what is wrong with the racing, the rules and the stewarding, instead of saying it’s not in line with what was ‘intended’.
So hey FiA, if you ‘intend’ to have racing in a certain way, then explicitly write the rules accordingly, and have it policed accordingly. Stop having people guess what’s in/on your mind, say (and write) it out loud and clear, with zero room for interpretation.
This is all just more mess that you’ve brought upon yourself: you reap what you sow.
I don’t think anything will change fundamentally though; you’re all way to happy with all the controversy.
MichaelN
5th May 2024, 17:10
What’s wrong is quite obvious: the ‘let them race’ crowd in the paddock and media has vilified all forms of penalties, such that we went from a 10-second stop & go penalty for a collision, to a drive-through, to a 5 time penalty for crashing the leader out of the race. That last bit is important, because small teams have had to deal with a complete lack of penalties for much longer, creating a very grim atmosphere in the fight for the final points. These orchestrated corner cutting antics by Haas wouldn’t have gotten as much attention if it had been Zhou or Sargeant on the receiving end of them, rather than Hamilton.
The motivations of these people is not entirely unreasonable: it has become so hard to race these huge cars with a great excess of aerodynamic grip that any move that does not rely solely on DRS or massive tyre-offsets is almost inevitably going to be a desperate one, in which the edges of what is allowed have to, and thus will be, reached.
Anuj
5th May 2024, 17:15
I don’t think kmag did anything for Hulk. As I have observed, kmag is non cooperative to his teammates. He is just using “teamwork” as an excuse for his behaviour.
sam
5th May 2024, 17:38
I think you are right. But remember, Andretti doesn’t Deserve o be in F1. They don’t meet these high standards.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
5th May 2024, 20:16
Stewards should have black flagged MAG. As I said in another post, this could easily happen at Monaco with that one set of turns where drivers can go straight through without taking the quick left and right. It’s already difficult to pass on most tracks and these types of tactics make it even more difficult.