F1 News: Kevin Magnussen Now Holds Sport's Most Unwanted Record

Alex Harrington | May 7, 2024

May 5, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Hass drive Kevin Magnussen (20) arrives in the paddock / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

During the weekend of the Miami Grand Prix, Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen set a regrettable record for the most penalties accrued in a single Formula 1 weekend. This dubious achievement has brought him dangerously close to a race ban.

The Danish driver Kevin Magnussen found himself at the center of controversy as he amassed an unprecedented number of penalties last weekend. Over the course of the race week, Magnussen received a total of six penalties, putting him just two points away from a race suspension under Formula 1's penalty points system.

This series of infractions began during the Sprint race where Magnussen was penalized four times. This was for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on three occasions and was additionally criticized for continuously leaving the track without a valid reason. These infractions collectively added three points to his racing license and resulted in a punitive 35-second total time addition to his race time.

The penalties continued to accumulate in Sunday's Grand Prix. A collision with American rookie Logan Sargeant marked another low point for Magnussen’s weekend. The incident not only forced Sargeant out of the race but also added a 10-second time penalty and two additional penalty points to Magnussen’s burgeoning tally. Further compounding his troubles, Magnussen was hit with more time penalties during a safety car period due to a failure from his team to change his tires during a pit stop

Speaking on the raft of penalties, Magnussen expressed a resigned acceptance of the stewards’ decisions. 

"All the penalties were fair," Magnussen acknowledged.

Despite his acceptance, Magnussen described a weekend tainted with tactical plays that ran contrary to his natural racing ethic, specifically strategies employed to protect his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, and secure valuable constructor points for Haas.

"But I had to do my thing, those tactics that I don't like, but it was to protect Nico (Hulkenberg) and score points. It's not the way I want to race, but that's how I had to do it," Magnussen explained.

Magnussen’s 10 penalty points accumulated over the weekend edge him perilously close to the maximum 12-point limit that triggers a mandatory race ban. This looming suspension echoes the punitive measures faced by other drivers in the past, such as Romain Grosjean in 2012 and Michael Schumacher in 1994, who both faced suspensions for on-track issues.

Should Magnussen's penalty point total reach the suspension threshold, this could see the Haas reserve driver Ollie Bearman stepping in to fill his seat temporarily.