George Russell’s ‘not harsh enough’ penalty points claim on banned Kevin Magnussen

While George Russell agrees Kevin Magnussen was hard done by at Monza, he argued that perhaps balances times where his punishment was “not harsh enough”.

Magnussen will be forced to sit out the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after reaching the dreaded 12 penalty points mark for his FIA superlicence, thus making the Danish driver the first to receive a race ban under the system.

George Russell argues Kevin Magnussen got off lightly in past

Magnussen took aim at the FIA after receiving a 10-second time penalty at Monza, followed by those crucial two penalty points which triggered the ban, having banged wheels with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly at the second chicane, an incident which did not inflict damage on either car.

“Frustrated about the penalty. I don’t understand it at all,” Magnussen told media including PlanetF1.com after the race.

“You know, flat out, just completely confused. Me and Gasly raced hard into Turn 4, we have slight contact. We both missed the corner, came back on track again, no damage to either car, no consequence to the race of either of us, and I get a 10-second penalty.

“Then, lap one, [Daniel] Ricciardo and Nico [Hulkenberg], you know, Ricciardo put Nico in the grass at 300 kilometres an hour, completely destroyed Nico’s race, massive consequence and damage to Nico’s car, and he gets a five-second penalty.

“You know, where’s the logic? I just don’t get it.”

Russell agrees that it was “a little bit harsh” for Magnussen to receive those superlicence points at Monza, but said it could be argued that some of his past incidents were not dealt with harshly enough.

“I mean, it’s a conversation that’s been had a number of times in previous years, as drivers have sailed close to the wind,” Russell told the media ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“No-one’s been banned in 12 years. So you could argue, were the penalty points actually harsh enough?

“For sure, his penalty points from Monza seemed a little bit harsh, but you could also argue some of the other incidents perhaps were not harsh enough.”

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Russell also believes that “dangerous or erratic driving” needs to be punished with up and coming drivers in mind.

“I think also we need to set a bit of a precedent as well for the junior series,” Russell argued.

“Those guys look up to us in F4, F3, F2, and you shouldn’t be allowed to get away with dangerous or erratic driving.

“And at some point, you do need to be punished for it.”

Oliver Bearman returns for his second super sub appearance of F1 2024 in place of Magnussen – ahead of his full-time Haas F1 2025 drive – with the team sat P7 in the Constructors’ Championship standings .

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