Kevin Magnussen finished 10th place at the Italian GP, securing his first point since Austria. The Dane capitalised on the VF-24’s strong race pace, which teammate Nico Hulkenberg could not exploit after a series of incidents. However, Magnussen was also involved in a collision with Pierre Gasly. Magnussen received two penalty points for his clash, pushing him to the annual limit (12/12) and resulting in a race ban.
Kevin Magnussen to serve race ban at the Azerbaijan GP
Magnussen receives race ban after Italy P10
The Italian GP was filled with action throughout the field, with Charles Leclerc securing his second win of the season. A one-stop strategy allowed the Maranello outfit to get the upper hand on McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
A similar strategic battle took place in the midfield, as Magnussen fought Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso for the points.
Magnussen was comfortably 9th across the line, successfully optimising the one-stop strategy. However, the Dane was penalised with a 10-second penalty for an incident with Pierre Gasly.
The Haas driver missed his braking point into turn 4 and hit the Frenchman. Gasly was forced off track after minor contact, which the FIA deemed worthy of a time penalty and two penalty points.
Heading into this weekend, Magnussen was carrying 10 penalty points. The limit for a one-year period is 12 penalty points, meaning that the Haas driver has now reached the maximum.
This results in an automatic race ban at the next race at Baku.
Bearman set to replace Magnussen
For a variety of reasons, Oliver Bearman is the logical selection to fill in for Magnussen in Baku. The British driver already has F1 experience, finishing 7th place at this year’s Saudi Arabia GP for Ferrari.
Bearman will also replace Magnussen at Haas next year, completing an all-new driver line-up with Esteban Ocon.
Not only is Bearman perhaps the most prepared driver to fill in for Haas, but another F1 weekend will help prepare him for next season.
