Kevin Magnussen and his Haas team principal Guenther Steiner were livid about the penalty which cost the driver eighth place in last weekend’s Russian Grand Prix.
Speaking on the radio after the race, Magnussen described his five-second time penalty for leaving the track at turn two and failing to rejoin correctly as “bullshit”. He repeated his criticism after the race and said he expected the FIA would realise they had made a mistake.Steiner went even further, blaming a “stupid, idiotic steward” for the decision. This echoed his words from May, when following another penalty frustration he remarked “some of the stewards are just not up to being stewards”.
However Magnussen was far from alone in receiving a penalty for not following the stewards’ instructions at turn two.
F1, F2 and F3 drivers alike were given similar instructions for how to treat the run-off area ahead of the start of last weekend’s races on Saturday. The race director’s notes advised them: “Any driver who fails to negotiate turn two by using the track, and who passes completely to the left of the first orange kerb element prior to the apex, must re-join the track by driving to the left of the white blocks and remaining to the left of the orange block in the run off.”
Nine different drivers fell foul of this rule over the next 48 hours. Here’s a summary of their penalties:
| Series | Event | Driver | Infraction | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F2 | Race one | Guanyu Zhou | Went off track at turn two and did not follow the instructions given by the race director in the driver briefing notes. | Five-second time penalty and one penalty point |
| F2 | Race one | Giuliano Alesi | Went off track at turn two, gained advantage and did not follow the instructions given by the race director in the driver briefing notes. | Five-second time penalty and one penalty point |
| F2 | Race one | Jordan King | Went off track at turn two and did not follow the instructions given by the race director in the driver briefing notes. | Five-second time penalty and one penalty point |
| F3 | Race two | Jehan Daruvala | Went off track at turn two and did not follow the instructions given by the race director in the driver briefing notes. | Five-second time penalty and one penalty point |
| F3 | Race two | Bent Viscaal | Went off track at turn two and did not follow the instructions given by the race director in the driver briefing notes. | Five-second time penalty and one penalty point |
| F2 | Race two | Sergio Sette Camara | Went off track at turn two and did not follow the instructions given by the race director in the driver briefing notes. | Five-second time penalty and one penalty point |
| F2 | Race two | Ralph Boschung | Went off track at turn two and did not follow the instructions given by the race director in the driver briefing notes. | Five-second time penalty and one penalty point |
| F2 | Race two | Mahaveer Raghunathan | Went off track at turn two and did not follow the instructions given by the race director in the driver briefing notes. | Five-second time penalty and one penalty point |
| F1 | Russian Grand Prix | Kevin Magnussen | Went off track at turn two and did not follow the instructions given by the race director in the driver briefing notes. | Five-second time penalty and one penalty point |
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Clearly, the stewards were consistent in the penalties given to all nine drivers. While Magnussen argued he did not gain an advantage by rejoining the track in the manner he did, almost all of the other drivers were also not deemed to have gained an advantage.
Could Steiner’s criticism attract the attention of the governing body? Three years ago Sebastian Vettel formally apologised after furiously disputing a penalty call with Charlie Whiting, the race director at the time, on the radio.
On Sunday evening in Sochi Whiting’s successor Michael Masi said he hadn’t heard Steiner’s comments but pointed out there are other avenues through the FIA which could look into them and take action.
“The FIA’s got its various judicial processes, be it at the circuit [with] the stewards, there’s various other processes and avenues that exists within the judicial and disciplinary rules that the FIA has,” he said.
“I’ve heard the about the comments that were made on the radio, I haven’t seen them directly so I’m not going to comment on what those are. At the end of the day, we’re all here to do a job be it officials, the teams, everyone. So I think there has to be a level of mutual respect.
“But with regard to the specific comments I haven’t seen them so I prefer not to comment on them until I have. If something’s been said that’s inappropriate there’s those that are in charge of the judicial elements away from the event that can look at it.”
While earlier decisions which have gone against Haas might have been borderline calls, this one clearly wasn’t. The team may regret reacting so strongly to a clear violation which received an indisputably consistent penalty.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Phylyp (@phylyp)
2nd October 2019, 8:28
Nice analysis and presentation, Keith.
In terms of his calm and measured responses that follow this quoted paragraph, Masi has shown he’s Charlie’s successor.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
2nd October 2019, 8:40
I don’t like magnussen, I don’t rate him either but unfounded or not I agree with him.
nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
2nd October 2019, 8:58
why? it doesn’t matter that he didn’t gain an advantage, what he did could still have been dangerous. all he had to do is slow done and get to the left of the arrow signs, easily possible if you look at the replay
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
2nd October 2019, 18:16
@nickthegreek @drmouse Not disputing the penalty. The origin of the problem is the fia. If the track is dangerous the fia ought to change it, the fia has to be accountable not the drivers.
Imagine you are driving your car and you miss a corner.
The drivers are expected to be in full control of their surroundings, regain composure and adapt to follow the markers and do a goid job at it, not end up in a more unsafe situation. If driving racing cars was that easy why race and we wouldn’t need safe cars and tracks. Fia is out of touch, and alongside fom getting cheap on safety.
Xcm
2nd October 2019, 22:26
Oh come on man… racing itself is dangerous! Don’t put that on the FIA….
And drivers don’t need to be accountable!?! WHAT?!?!?
Grosjean and Magnussen are massive cry babies, and an embarrassment to the team that just doubled down on the crybaby front….
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd October 2019, 11:43
@peartree
The rules were clear and the penalties consistent. He knew that he had to follow the instructions at that point and chose not to. I don’t know what more can be expected from the stewards.
As @nickthegreek stated above, all he had to do was follow the instructions he had been given. He is basically saying, “I chose to break the rules but it’s not fair that I get punished for doing so”.
regs (@regs)
5th October 2019, 17:11
You didn’t see Mazepin crash?
Kelvin (@kelvin38)
2nd October 2019, 9:01
Magnussen drivers over the first orange Kerb.
Its not about consistency in a penalty at a turn.
There are multiple scenarios that can happen at any point in that.
Fact is, Magnussen was not ledt og the first orange Kerb. So he should not have gotten a penalty.
Chaitanya
2nd October 2019, 9:04
+1 he would have had to take a u turn even in order to negotiate both cones.
nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
2nd October 2019, 9:13
no he wouldn’t. did you watch the replay? if she slowed down a bit he would have easily made both bollards (in my opinion)
Kelvin (@kelvin38)
2nd October 2019, 9:27
Its besides the point.
If you tell the drivers a set of rules and specify where the ‘breaking’ point is. Then you have to follow thru. You cant just ‘oh Yeah that goes for even ud you Arent to the ledt og the kerb.’
To tour comment, All the cameras are to the left in that turn, meaning Magnussen was more to the right then what IT looks like from the fotage. It would have been dangerous for him to go for the first bollard.
Harrisf1 (@harrisf1)
2nd October 2019, 11:37
Video clearly shows him going over the orange kerb, so unsure why he got the penalty?
Here is the direct link:
https://youtu.be/rIFF9mDh2vY?t=119
PaulK (@paulk)
2nd October 2019, 10:02
Magnussen’s claim is that he was at least partially over the first (?) kerb already so he couldn’t really navigate his way towards the first bollard.
I didn’t watch any replays (don’t think it was shown on the main feed) so I’d like to see a picture showing exactly where he wen’t off and where are the two limits which dictate how many bollards he should have gone to the left of.
Bjarne Myrup
2nd October 2019, 10:13
Just look at the footage from formula1.com you clearly see that he is not going off left of the first kerb, therefore the penalty is wrong
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
2nd October 2019, 10:33
Weren’t the bollards moved after the F2 race or was that between Saturday and Sunday?
That being said it was my understanding that they were moved to make it easier to go round them.
OmegaWave
2nd October 2019, 11:16
Of course I don’t expect any different from Keith but yet I will state obvious canyon of of a point entirely left out of this “analysis”: Magnussen didn’t go off from the regular angle and had no chance of abiding without adding a very high risk of crashing the car. The trajectory he had gave him a split second to decide between the track rule and safety. Yeah, let’s penalize safety, good job!
Nikki (@nikkit)
2nd October 2019, 11:55
Was it 2017 or 2016 that Hamilton also fell afoul of this particular rule for turn two – on the saturday I think?
In fact, I believe it was that year that the rule was started as I remember that Kyvat took the same path in the earlier session, but escaped penalty as they hadn’t instituted the rule at the time, but did so for qualifying due to drivers cutting the corner repeatedly and gaining an advantage during the practice sessions.
OldCamper
2nd October 2019, 12:00
Dear @keithcollantine,
I normally rate your website very high amongst motorsport websites, but this time you have presented an article that is way below your normal standard.
In the headline you present the fact that nine other incidents, with exactly the same wording should be treated exactly the same, despite the fact that the rule itself says “who passes completely to the left of the first orange kerb element prior to the apex”. Did you spend some time thinking about how many of these incidents actually included “passing completely to the left of the first orange kerb”? … and if so, how much?
In the first 3 paragraphs you correctly state that the Haas guys was using very bad language towards the stewards. In my opinion this should be punished, as it sets a very bad example to e.g. karting boys.
Then, in paragraph 4 you continue to compare verdicts where you present no data, and call it consistent. In my world (engineering), this is the same as comparing apples and pears.
In the last paragraph you go on with a very modern piece of journalism, where you conclude on your own flawed dataset, by stating “indisputably consistent penalty”. How can you conclude that the Haas crew’s claims are unfounded, when your own dataset is completely without foundation, or even just scratching the surface of the facts surrounding each incident?
In my book the penalty for you would be 3 places on the grid, and 1 point on your license for this below par performance.
Thanks for an otherwise great website, and I hope you take this in good spirit.
OldCamper
Bart
2nd October 2019, 12:22
The penalties were identical, but were the fouls identical too?
schooner (@schooner)
2nd October 2019, 15:53
I’m wondering if all of the other drivers who received penalties missed only the first bollard like Magnussen, or did they miss them both? Magnussen DID return to the track at the correct spot having gone around the second bollard, and I’m sure that is where the anger is coming from. But having missed the first one, he didn’t follow instructions to the letter.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
2nd October 2019, 20:14
I think this “orange kerb element ” is that dark red kerb element on the left of the track beside the run off area in the video. Kevin definitely went over it, meaning he …
Didn’t happen. Maybe he could have argued he was too far around the corner when he went off and could have collided with the crash barrier if he tried, but I think that’s grasping at straws. While the telephoto lens does distort distance perspective, it does look like he drove close enough to the two white blocks that he could have driven to the left of them.
Yes, he did do that, or at least to the left of a yellow block. It would have been nice if the back of it was yellow or orange too because when you look at the video from the tail of the car it shows as white.
Looking at how he drove after going over the dark red “orange kerb element”, I think if he’d kept on his initial line he could have gone to the left of the two white blocks, but after what looks like 8 metres or so he turns slighly right and away from a line for going to the left of the white blocks. My guess is if he hadn’t made that right turn then there’s enough room behind those blocks to have made the turn towards the yellow “orange” block. If there wasn’t enough room then that should have been his argument. However, as I said, I think there was enough room.
Sorry Kevin, but this time I have to agree with the Stewards.
Simon Lodal
2nd October 2019, 20:48
Which he did not. He went right over it.
So the rule does not apply to him at all.
As other in this thread have already said, the penalty is downright wrong, even according to it’s own words.
GtisBetter (@)
2nd October 2019, 20:32
Drivers:”stop making rules for every situation!”
Also drivers:”this thing i did was not exactly mentioned by the FIA, therefor the penalty does not apply to me!”
Walter (@aosisdk)
3rd October 2019, 9:32
The elephant in the room quietly request a picture of Magnussen going Over the orange kerb element as a picture lead, please…
Maybe the Race Directors’ Event Notes as the Photo caption