At Singapore next week Kevin Magnussen will become the 10th driver in the history of the world championship to be banned from a round due to a driving infringement or infringements.
Jean-Pierre Beltoise, 1971
Jean-Pierre Beltoise was given two separate bans from a total of four Formula 1 races in 1971 for his role in a terrible crash which claimed the life of Ignazio Giunti during the 1,000 kilometres of Buenos Aires sportscar race. When his Matra ran out of fuel at the final corner Beltoise began pushing his car the short distance to the pits, in contravention of the rules. Giunti, unsighted behind Ferrari team mate Mike Parkes, slammed into Beltoise’ car, sustaining fatal injuries.
Following the crash in January, Beltoise was banned from the season-opening F1 race at Kyalami in South Africa in March. He returned for the next five races, until the FIA chose to impose a further ban, ruling him out of the German, Austrian and Italian rounds in August and September. He returned for the final two rounds of the season.
The following year Beltoise scored the only victory of his career, and the last for BRM, in soaking wet conditions at Monaco. He retired from F1 after two more years with the team.Christian Danner, 1987
Zakspeed driver Christian Danner was blamed, and banned, for a huge crash involving Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix in 1987. Danner was climbing towards Massenet after leaving the pits as Alboerto, on a flying lap, tried to pass on his left. The pair made contact and Alboreto was launched into the barriers.
Fortunately the Ferrari driver was not only unhurt but well enough to return to the track in his spare car. Danner, however, was thrown out of the event, a reaction even Alboreto felt was excessive.
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Nigel Mansell, 1989
The Ferrari driver was shown the black flag for engaging reverse gear in the pits when he overshot his box. Mansell insisted he did not see the flag disqualifying him from the race as he hunted down Ayrton Senna in pursuit of victory.
Though Senna was locked in a championship fight with team mate Alain Prost he remained as uncompromising as ever with his rivals, and when Mansell made a bid for the inside at turn one the McLaren swung in. Contact was made and both retired.
The FIA threw the book at Mansell for colliding with a rival when he shouldn’t even have been on the track any more, banning him from the next race in Spain.
Eddie Irvine, 1994
Eddie Irvine also did not endear himself to Senna when he un-lapped himself from the McLaren driver during his debut in the 1993 Japanese Grand Prix. Jordan kept Irvine on board for the following season, but he landed himself in hot water again when he was involved in a four-car crash.
Martin Brundle had just lapped Eric Bernard when his car faltered with a technical problem. Bernard backed off as Irvine bore down on him. Meanwhile, Jos Verstappen was pulling out from behind Irvine to pass him.
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Irvine ducked left to avoid Bernard, tangled with Verstappen and the pair skittled into Bernard and Brundle. The latter suffered a whack on his crash helmet from Verstappen’s right-rear wheel.
All four survived, though Brundle sustained a concussion. Irvine was held responsible for the collision, a view challenged by many who saw it as a product of unfortunate circumstances. But if his one-race ban seemed harsh to some, the FIA’s decision to triple it when Jordan appealed against the decision was shocking. Having only started three F1 races thus far, Irvine was forced to sit the next three out.
Mika Hakkinen, 1994
The 1994 German Grand Prix began with one of the most destructive first laps F1 has ever seen. Of the 26 starters, 11 failed to make it as far as lap two, largely due to a pair of multi-car crashes.
The second of those, at the first corner, was triggered by Mika Hakkinen. Hard to the inside with three drivers to his left, Hakkinen squeezed too close to David Coulthard and the pair made contact. Coulthard avoided being taken out, but five others weren’t so lucky.
Given what had happened to Irvine, McLaren wisely accepted Hakkinen’s one-race ban without risking an extension.
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Michael Schumacher, 1994
Michael Schumacher’s ban resulted partly from his own misdemeanour and his team’s poor response to it, and also some sloppy work on the authorities’ part. It began when he repeatedly overtook pole-winning championship rival Damon Hill prior to the start of the British Grand Prix. Schumacher did so on both formation laps, as the initial start was abandoned.
Amid confusion over exactly what penalty had been applied to Schumacher, including his team making the questionable assumption that he was being given a post-race penalty, the Benetton driver was shown the black flag. Like Mansell five years earlier, Schumacher continued, though he pitted and served a 10-second stop-and-go penalty.
Afterwards the FIA World Motor Sport Council took a dim view of how both Benetton and the British Grand Prix stewards handled the matter. Both were sanctioned – in Schumacher’s case, along with disqualification from the race, he was handed a two-race ban.
Jacques Villeneuve, 1997
Villeneuve collected his ban during practice for the penultimate race of the season at Suzuka. In the previous round at the Nurburgring two weeks earlier he had failed to slow down sufficiently in response to yellow flags, his third such infringement of the year. On Saturday in Japan, Villeneuve was one of five drivers who failed to back off as they passed Verstappen’s stranded Tyrrell.
The Williams driver was the only one who was already on his third ‘strike’, and another meant an immediate ban. It was a disaster for his championship chances, handing rival Schumacher a precious opportunity to erase Villeneuve’s nine-point lead.
Williams appealed and Villeneuve was allowed to race in the meantime. His efforts to delay Schumacher failed, however, and when the ban was upheld Villeneuve knew he would head into the finale trailing his rival.
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Yuji Ide, 2006
Alongside the experienced Takuma Sato, Super Aguri hired leading Formula Nippon (now Super Formula) racer Yuji Ide. His unfamiliarity with F1 venues made for a difficult transition, however, and he was involved in a series of incidents over his first three weekends.
Then on the first lap at Imola, Ide attempted a highly optimistic move on Christijan Albers in the Villeneuve right-hander which flipped the Midland into a horrifying barrel-roll. The FIA decided it had seen enough and withdrew his superlicence.
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Romain Grosjean, 2012
At Spa, however, Grosjean was unquestionably to blame for a monumental crash which took him and four others out of the race. Trying to block Lewis Hamilton as they approached La Source, Grosjean forced the McLaren onto the grass, which pushed his car into Fernando Alonso and the Saubers of Perez and Kamui Kobayashi.
This was clearly a serious incident which deserved a significant penalty. However the stewards made the controversial ruling that Grosjean’s actions were especially worthy of punishment because he had not merely collided with other drivers, but “leading championship contenders”, which they evidently considered more serious.
Grosjean was banned from the next race at Monza. As a result of the incident, in 2014 the FIA introduced a new system under which drivers may be banned if they collect 12 penalty points on their licence.
Kevin Magnussen
Last year Pierre Gasly was extremely fortunate to avoid a ban as he was already on 10 penalty points when he caused a collision which took his team mate out of the Australian Grand Prix. The stewards took no action, prompting accusations they did not wish to trigger a ban for a driver by penalising a minor incident.
However last weekend Magnussen became the first driver to collect such a penalty – coincidentally, following a collision with Gasly. He has also been involved in collisions with Alexander Albon, Logan Sargeant and Yuki Tsunoda earlier in the year, all of which added to his penalty points tally. A further incident in Miami, where he repeatedly left the track to prevent Lewis Hamilton overtaking him, contributed to his total of 12.
And not forgetting…
Other drivers have been banned or forced to miss races under circumstances related to their driving in F1 or other series.In some cases the mere fact they had taken to the track was the issue at stake. Mario Andretti and Bobby Unser were barred from competing in the 1968 Italian Grand Prix because they also participated in a race in the USA the same weekend. Hans Heyer was barred from the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix because he had started the previous race at the Hockenheimring illegally.
Finally in 2002 Sauber rookie Felipe Massa was given a 10-place grid penalty for colliding with Pedro de la Rosa. As the penalty was specifically applied to Massa for the next race at Indianapolis, Sauber realised they could avoid it if they substituted him, so they did: Massa skipped the race as Heinz-Harald Frentzen drove his car.
Formula 1
- $450 million payment for Cadillac to join Formula 1 is too low – Wolff
- Aston Martin ‘won the championship for most updates – but they didn’t deliver’ – Cowell
- Verstappen says he won’t change how he races despite reaching eight penalty points
- Alunni Bravi leaving Sauber after two years as team representative
- “Pussyfooting” F1 race engineers need to “grow a pair” – Smedley
Mayrton
5th September 2024, 12:51
Haha, what a great sentence and just imagine social media back then with the conflicts that have unfolded.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
5th September 2024, 14:17
It always surprises me this incident isn’t referenced more. Other than the ones where someone came to actual physical harm, what Nigel did was pretty outlandish. I might be wrong but it’s largely remember as the time Nigel reversed in the pitlane, rather than the ‘ignoring / didn’t see’ black flag, taking out teammates championship rival part of the story.
Kotrba
6th September 2024, 18:24
I was surprised to read the story. Never heard of it once.
Mansell in general seems to be overlooked in the recent times, when diving into the past of F1. Prost, Senna, Lauda are brought repeatedly, but Mansell only occasionally – despite the fact that stories revolving around him are some of the most bizzare (pushing the car and fainting, hitting a sponsorship banner by his head etc…)
Jonathan Parkin
5th September 2024, 12:54
One small thing to mention. The reason why Mika was banned after Germany was because he’d collided with Rubens on the final lap at Silverstone and they had both left the circuit without reporting to the stewards. This got them both suspended race bans. When the Hockenheim crashes happened this what changed Hakkinen’s suspended ban to become an actual ban
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
5th September 2024, 13:04
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I don’t see why. What’s controversial about it? He was rightfully disqualified and rightfully banned after racing while DSQ!
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
5th September 2024, 13:05
My point behind we’d all agreed he raced like a clown that day!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
5th September 2024, 13:31
I don’t think his banning was necessarily more controversial than the others here – my point was the events of the race were controversial, i.e. a championship contender being eliminated in a collision with a driver who was being shown a black flag.
David BR (@david-br)
5th September 2024, 16:35
@fer-no65 It’s the ‘not seeing’ (Mansell) or ignoring (Schumacher) the black flag bit! It’s like a footballer being given a red card but just carrying on playing anyhow. Of course the ref can just suspend the match. In Formula 1, kind of difficult. Worse still the driver deciding if he’s black-flagged, may as well take a rival out too. TBH I laughed at the Mansell one, mostly harmless. Some of the others are tragic. How Grosjean wasn’t banned more times, no idea. I mean he’s probably a nice enough guy, but on track, often completely mind-blowing how he drove, not in a good way.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th September 2024, 13:56
Gasly probably would’ve received at least two penalty points for the incident with Ocon in the 2023 Australian GP had they been literally the only ones involved without anyone else (e.g., Sainz) starting a chain reaction event that directly contributed to their coming together, hence, the more lenient treatment towards Gasly.
Dex
5th September 2024, 14:27
It’s really hard to earn a race ban under current regulations, but even more thanks to different mentality in modern F1 (PR restrictions, corporate climate, higher professionalism etc.; there’s less space for lose cannons). I wouldn’t be surprised if Magnussen, who really worked hard on getting this ban, would be the last one to get it for a long time.
To be frank, I love having “bad guys” in the sport (in this case it’s a hyperbole), and F1 really lacks that element that was always part of its DNA. On the other hand, Magnussen’s calculated unsportsmanlike driving at times really wasn’t something I enjoyed seeing. I know why he did it, he thought it was the only way to earn his seat for 2025, to prove how useful he can be in a way most drivers wouldn’t; he really gave it all to help Nico. He stopped driving like that as soon as he realized that he was out; now he’s less calculated with his tough approach. His usual over the top driving, like we saw last time, is just part of his usual mentality. But hey, before criticizing, let’s all remember how we used to behave competing in video games for example. His stakes are much higher.
Nick T.
6th September 2024, 6:42
I get why you’re so into Putin now. He’s like your geopolitical heel. Just a bit more dripping in blood.
JA
7th September 2024, 8:53
Why would the conclusion be that Magnussen would be the last one to get it few a long time. Gasly should have had one in 2023, Vettel in 2019 and if FIA started adhering their own rules and enforce them on all drivers and teams. Then we should see an increase in drivers getting a race ban. Alonso is right now at 8 points all from the 2024 season. Perez is also at 8 but have some that runs out in some of the upcoming races. Next year will be filled with rookie drivers all eager to prove themselves, Doohan for one is a very aggressive driver and sometimes with horrible judgement and he will be in the packed midfield. He’s on a one year contract and I have a feeling that we will see him with a lot of frustration at times during next season.
What I mean about judging drivers equally. Perez squeezed Magnussen in Monaco like Magnussen squeezed Albon in SA. Now it doesn’t matter which way you judge them (Magnussens fault in Monaco and Albons fault in SA), just as long as they are judged equally, which haven’t been the case – otherwise Perez would be sitting at 11 points, just one from a race ban.
Nick T.
5th September 2024, 16:32
Too bad. I just woke up from a coma suffered on the way home from the 2014 Australian GP and I’m assuming Magnussen is one of the best ever drivers to grace the F1 grid. This’ll hurt his WDC campaign.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
5th September 2024, 18:50
What happened in 1994? Did the FIA suddenly discover the banhammer down the back of the sofa?
montreal95 (@montreal95)
5th September 2024, 23:13
From the beginning of the year, even before Imola everybody was on edge. The cars were not yet adapted enough for running without all the electronic gizmos and driver aids at the end of 1993. They were fast but extremely skittish and tough to control, basically monsters. There were bad accidents right, left and center. Drivers were getting injured, even killed which hasn’t happened for many years. There was talk in the yellow press of following Switzerland lead(Switzerland banned motor racing in 1955 and never lifted the ban). So this was one of the ways in which the panicking FIA reacted
Unicron (@unicron2002)
5th September 2024, 22:21
1994, the the year that had it all, pretty much – good and bad. Tragedies, controversies, lots and lots of crashes, injuries, race bans, tyre chicanes, mid season technical rule change, black flag, pit lane fire, ex champ comeback, alleged cheating, title rivals crash to cap it all off. And I’m missing lots more I’m sure.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th September 2024, 15:54
Full wet races, like suzuka!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th September 2024, 15:54
Full wet races, like suzuka!
jenc (@jens)
5th September 2024, 23:09
It’s quite some prominent names Magnussen joins in this club.
Alex
6th September 2024, 13:47
You’re right, Yuji Ide especially!