19/09/2024
NEWS STORY
Back from his one race ban, Kevin Magnussen has hit out at the penalty points system.
Other than a time penalty, the Dane was handed a penalty point following his collision with Pierre Gasly during the Italian Grand Prix.
This meant the Haas driver had accrued 12 penalty points in as many months and therefore faced an automatic one-race ban, even though Gasly was one of several drivers to support Magnussen over the punishment.
Speaking in Singapore, the Dane hit out at the system introduced in 2014.
"I feel the FIA know it's not the right way at the moment," he told reporters. "Hopefully they will open up and realize they need to trust the drivers.
"Of course there are things you have to clamp down on," he admitted. "There are things, like moving under braking, and reacting to movement, there are dangerous things that you should clamp down on. But the little things, just let it go."
Indeed, at a time we have numerous teams fighting for the titles, Magnussen believes that the penalty system threatens the racing spectacle, certainly for him.
"That my own opinion is it's not a great situation for F1, I think, to restrict racing in that way," he said. "It feels bad when the sport you love so much changes in a way you don't appreciate.
"I think I'm certainly one that, I like hard racing, and I think that's a big part of the beauty of motorsport, is the battles. The on the limit and slightly over, that balance between going slightly over and under the limit is what makes your race.
"At the moment, it feels like they're punishing ridiculous things. I'd like to see, personally as a Formula 1 fan, I'd like to see the sport open up again and allowing the great racing that can be seen on-track."
The race-ban sees the Dane's penalty points reset to zero, which means that in the remaining races he can effectively go all-out.
"Yeah exactly!" he laughed. "I mean, it's kind of, you get punished, and then you come back, and you're like all ready to... f*** s*** up now!
"It's funny how that works," he added. "In a way, it hasn't really affected me. I think with those points, it was annoying to have the knowledge that the next time anything happens, there's a race ban.
"It's nice to know that's not a factor any more. But I actually don't think it has affected me in how I've driven. I've really tried to say look, I need to crack on here, and whatever happens, happens."