McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has strongly criticised the manoeuvres from Kevin Magnussen during the Miami GP Sprint.
Stella minced no words in condemning Magnussen’s defensive driving tactics throughout the 19-lap race.
Lewis Hamilton was struggling on the straights, finding it difficult to overtake the Haas throughout. Eventually, the drivers brushed tyres during their battle, as well as Magnussen deliberately braking too late to escort Hamilton off the road with him at turn 11.
Cumulatively, Magnussen was hit with four penalties for leaving the track during the race, 35 seconds worth of penalties, and was given three penalty points on his licence. This leaves the Danish driver with a total of eight penalty points, a problem so early in the season as if a driver acquires 12 points, they will be banned for a Grand Prix.
Despite Hamilton claiming he enjoyed the racing on track, Stella noted there is a delicate balance between aggressive driving and going over the limit on track, and that drivers cannot be incentivised to do what Magnussen did.
The Italian believes Magnussen’s defensive driving was deliberate in regards to destroying another driver’s race.
It’s not the first time this has happened in 2024 as the Dane did the same in Saudi Arabia, particularly in the initial fight against Yuki Tsunoda when he drove off track to complete a move against the Japanese driver. He ultimately went on to back the pack up as he had two penalties over his head that day.
“For me, it’s actually relatively simple.
“We have a case of a behaviour being intentional in terms of damaging another competitor.”
Denouncing the Danish driver’s actions, Stella called for fair competition, claiming that his repeated behaviour should have led to escalating penalties and a shift in the way that such behaviour on track is addressed and disciplined by the FIA.
“This behaviour is perpetuated within the same race and repeated over the same season. How can penalties be cumulative? They should be exponential.”
Stella is advocating for race bans for drivers who repeatedly damage other drivers’ races on track.
“It’s not 5 plus 5 plus 5 equals 15. 5 plus 5 plus 5 equals maybe you need to spend a weekend at home with your family, reflect on your sportsmanship and then go back.”
He noted that drivers must be “loyal, fair and sportsman-like whatever you say in English, to your fellow competitors then you can stay in this business. It’s completely unacceptable.”
Stella critiqued the penalty system, questioning the efficacy of penalty points on drivers’ licenses, suggesting that a slap on the wrist fails to address the gravity of deliberate and repeated actions.
“I guess the penalty points is still in place… But damaging intentionally the race of competitors just makes no sense from a sportsmanship point of view.
“This should be addressed immediately because if you are out of the points, you get 20 seconds or whatever at the end of your race it doesn’t make any difference.
“But for the competitors you have damaged, you have put them out of their race. Again, in a deliberate, perpetuated, and repeated way. This is completely unacceptable.”
