05/05/2024
NEWS STORY
The Miami stewards have opted to take no further action over Kevin Magnussen's alleged unsportsmanlike behaviour during the Miami Sprint.
The stewards spoke to the Dave, his team representative and reviewed video evidence in relation to the three separate incidents where the Haas driver left the track and gained a lasting advantage. Each of those infringements attracted a 10 second time penalty.
The stewards wanted to examine the circumstances under which the second and third instances of leaving the track and gaining an advantage were done especially in the context of an on track battle with Lewis Hamilton.
They were also aware of the impact that these infringements potentially had on the time gaps to the cars in front, in particular Magnussen's teammate, Nico Hulkenberg.
The stewards were also made aware of a media interview that Magnussen gave immediately after the session where he was quoted as saying among other things: "I started using these stupid tactics, which I don't like doing... But at the end of the day, I did my job as a team player... Nico scored points because I got that gap for him..."
During the hearing Magnussen confirmed that these comments were accurately reported, the stewards therefore wanted to investigate if he was deliberately flouting the regulations to gain an advantage for his team or his teammate and if so, whether such conduct would be an infringement of Article 12.2.1.L of the FIA International Sporting Code.
During a lengthy hearing Magnussen candidly explained that he thought that he was entitled to race with Hamilton in the manner that he did and also that he was willing to accept what he considered to be standard penalties that would have been imposed on him for any infringements that occurred while he was battling for position.
He was also of the view that building a gap between himself and the cars ahead was perfectly within the regulations and it was not uncommon for a driver to seek to assist his teammate in the course of a race by doing so.
He did not at any point in time think that what he was doing was wrong or that it was in any way unsportsmanlike.
He highlighted that the stewards would typically not increase the severity of the penalties for repeat offences.
The stewards considered the matter and found that the standard for establishing unsportsmanlike behaviour must undoubtedly be high. Also, in circumstances such as this one, there must be clear evidence of an intention to behave in a manner that can be said to be unsportsmanlike as a finding of unsportsmanlike behaviour is serious.
Finally, while they disagreed with the way in which the Haas was driven, in particular, the repeated infringements from leaving the track, they did not think that the actions reached the level of unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Having said that, they need to consider if, in appropriate situations, especially in the case of repeat infringements, the penalties to be applied for each infringement needs to be increased to discourage scenarios such as those found today.
While this is something that they will raise explicitly with the FIA and the stewarding team, they have opted to take no further action on the present summons.