24/08/2014
NEWS STORY
Kevin Magnussen has been handed a 20s post-race penalty following today's race, thereby dropping him from 6th to 12th.
The Dane was involved in a furious battle with world champions Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button for fifth, at times the quartet running four abreast.
However, at one stage the McLaren driver forced Alonso off track, at Les Combes as he tried to overtake, and it was for this that he was subsequently hit with the penalty.
"The driver of car 20 (Magnussen) was defending his position on the straight between turns 4 and 5, a significant portion of car 14 (Alonso) was alongside car 20," said the Stewards. "The driver of car 20 did not leave enough space for car 14 and forced the car off the track."
"Despite being penalised, I have to say I enjoyed the weekend," said the McLaren driver. "I had great fun out there this afternoon - I was involved in exciting racing on an awesome circuit.
"It was a tough challenge, because everyone around me had slightly fresher tyres than I did, and they're all great drivers: they're not the easiest guys to keep behind. So I just tried my best to defend my position as well as I could."
"I know the Stewards acted on what happened, but I don't think it's that important when you are fighting for sixth and seventh places," said Alonso. "You just try to have fun, with safety as well, but it was not a big deal."
Magnussen's penalty sees Hulkenberg promoted to tenth, thereby giving Force India a double points finish.
Check out our race gallery, here.
Chris Balfe