Kevin Magnussen’s driving style at the Miami Grand Prix has divided opinion with the penalised driver drawing differing opinions from Lando Norris and his McLaren boss.
Lando Norris and McLaren team principal Andrea Stella have conflicting opinions regarding the fairness of Kevin Magnussen’s driving during the Miami Grand Prix last weekend.
The driver from Haas was given three ten-second penalties after using certain tactics to prevent Lewis Hamilton from overtaking him during the sprint race. He made a mistake at Turn 14 and received a time penalty, and later on, he was punished again for pushing the limits to keep Hamilton behind.
As a result, his teammate Nico Hulkenberg was able to gain an advantage and score important points. However, not everyone was happy with his actions, and Stella proposed that race suspensions should be considered by the sport’s authorities instead of just penalties.
He stated that there is a situation where behavior is deliberately causing harm to another competitor, and this behavior continues within the same race and throughout the season. Why should penalties be cumulative? They ought to be exponential.
“It’s not a matter of five plus five plus five equals 15. Five plus five plus five equals perhaps you should take a weekend off at home with your family to contemplate your sportsmanship before returning… This is utterly unacceptable. It defies logic in terms of sportsmanship and needs to be rectified promptly.
Norris acknowledged that Magnussen’s driving was “clever”, but admitted that it would be difficult to accept if you were in Hamilton’s shoes, especially with the team’s strategy in mind.
He compared it to a situation in Monaco where your teammate is in ninth place, and you overtake by cutting the course, similar to what Fernando did a few years ago by blocking everyone. You know you’ll receive a penalty, but you prioritize helping your teammate.
They possess the ability to engage in boxing. You possess the capability to accomplish it. You are aware that you will incur the penalty, but you contribute to a significant team effort. Therefore, it relies on how much you desire to challenge that. It is both harsh and challenging to accept when you are the opposing driver. However, I believe that his actions were intelligent.
Norris is reveling in the triumph of his inaugural victory in Formula 1. Despite having graced the podium on multiple occasions, the McLaren driver had never ascended to the highest position until his remarkable performance in Florida, where he skillfully capitalized on a well-timed safety car.
The talent of the Brit has been praised for a long time, and his dissatisfaction with McLaren has been clear whenever he couldn’t compete at the top of the grid. However, now the English team seems capable of competing against Red Bull and Ferrari in the future.
Leave a Reply