Kevin Magnussen expressed his confusion about the Azerbaijan Grand Prix race ban after exceeding the penalty point limit on his Super Licence.
The Haas driver became the first to reach the 12-point threshold following a collision with Pierre Gasly during the Italian Grand Prix, which resulted in two penalty points and a subsequent 10-second time penalty. Although neither car suffered significant damage, the stewards deemed the incident unsafe.
Magnussen expressed his frustration with the ruling, emphasizing inconsistency in penalties among drivers. GPBlog quotes Magnussen as saying:
Frustrated about the penalty. I don't understand it at all. Me and Gasly raced hard into turn four, we had slight contact, we both missed the corner, then came back on track again, no damage to either car, and no consequence to the race of either of us. But I get a 10-second penalty. Then, on Lap 1, Ricciardo and Nico [Hulkenberg], Ricciardo put Nico in the grass at 300 kilometres an hour, completely destroyed Nico's race, massive consequence and damage to Nico's car. But he gets a five-second penalty. Where's the logic?
In a social media post, he confirmed his absence from Baku and noted his varied results from prior races. Magnussen aims to return for the Singapore GP.