Kevin Magnussen has been banned from the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix after reaching 12 penalty points following a penalty at the Italian Grand Prix.
Magnussen made contact with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly at the Roggia chicane. The Stewards awarded him a 10-second time penalty, as well as 2 penalty points, for the incident.
The penalty means the Haas driver has accumulated 12 penalty points in the last 12 months, and according to FIA regulations, when a driver reaches such threshold their super license must be suspended for the following event.
“As the driver of car 20 [Magnussen] has accrued 12 penalty points (…) the superlicense of the driver of car 20 must be suspended for the next competition,” the FIA statement read.
Magnussen is the first driver in Formula 1 to receive a race ban for reaching the penalty points threshold.
Speaking with the media, the Swede said that the FIA is “just throwing [penalties] around, they don’t want racing, that’s what it seems to me.”
About the incident, he said he “and Gasly had slight contact. No damage on either car, no consequence in the race, we just had slight contact and missed the corner.
“And so, what? We were racing. I don’t know why we need to be throwing around penalties like this.”
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu confirmed Magnussen won’t race the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but is yet to announce his replacement. The speculation is that 2025-signee Oliver Bearman will take the seat at Baku.