During the Miami Grand Prix sprint race, Lewis Hamilton is being chased by Kevin Magnussen.
F1’s governing body the FIA could start handing out harsher penalties for repeat offences from this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in a bid to avoid a repeat of Kevin Magnussen’s tough defensive tactics in Miami.
Magnussen accrued 35 seconds’ worth of post-race time penalties in the sprint race in Miami as the Haas driver defended stubbornly against Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, acting as team-mate Nico Hulkenberg’s rear gunner.
FIA to clamp down hard on Kevin Magnussen tactics?
By securing a seventh-place finish in the Miami mini race, Hulkenberg earned two points which further solidified Haas’s hold on the seventh position in the Constructor’s Championship.
After the race, Magnussen displayed regret and acknowledged that his penalties were justified. The Dane’s tactics evoked a strong reaction from certain rivals of Haas.
One of the individuals expressing their opinion was McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, who advocated for a race ban to be imposed on Magnussen.
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The team managers will discuss potential measures to prevent a recurrence of Magnussen’s tactics in a meeting on Friday, possibly implementing them as early as this weekend’s race at Imola.
If the teams widely approve the proposal, the new procedure may be implemented for the race in Italy on Sunday.
According to the revised system, it is alleged that first offenses will be handled as usual, while stewards will have the authority to impose harsher penalties for subsequent offenses.
According to reports, despite driver concerns, there are currently no intentions to modify the policy regarding yielding positions following track-cutting offenses.
PlanetF1.com reached out to the FIA for a statement.
With ongoing worries regarding the consistency of stewards’ decisions, it is anticipated that the suggested modifications will provide greater flexibility for interpretation. This will enable the stewards to better address unique situations, instead of being bound by rigid rules.
After accumulating five penalty points on his superlicence during the Miami Grand Prix, Magnussen is now only two points away from facing a one-race ban, as per the penalty points system implemented in 2014.
Romain Grosjean, a former Lotus driver, holds the unfortunate distinction of being the most recent driver to be banned from participating in an F1 race. This ban came about as a consequence of his involvement in a first-corner collision during the start of the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix held at Spa.
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