The race weekend of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza was a rollercoaster of different events. Starting with the crash of Kimi Antonelli in Free Practice, followed by a close qualifying session on Saturday. However, they had some more surprises for us and the drivers themselves! Especially for Kevin Magnussen!
What happened in Monza?
Both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris had a successful qualifying session and ended up on the front row. With a McLaren front-row lockout, everyone assumed that either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, the two McLaren racers would win. It seemed like it was about to happen too. At one point McLaren had a 10-second gap to the closest contender. They were on hard tyres, and all it would have taken was tyre management by Oscar Piastri. However, he decided to take the gamble and go for fresh tyres. Charles Leclerc took the lead and built a gap of over 10 seconds for the rest of the race, winning the Italian Grand Prix for Ferrar!
However, the front of the grid is not the only place where a lot happened. In the back of the field, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg had some struggles with the Haas car and their brakes. First Nico received a 10-second penalty for hitting Yuki Tsunoda. Later in the race, Kevin Magnussen’s brakes locked up and lost grip due to sand on the track, resulting in a collision with Pierre Gasly. He received a time penalty as well as a far more drastic punishment: a “one race” race ban!
Is the punishment for Kevin Magnussen Justified?
A lot of fans were surprised by the decision of the FIA to give Kevin Magnussen this ban since the collision with Pierre Gasly didn’t seem to have a negative result for the French driver. However, in Formula One, the drivers get points for each crash they cause. When a racer reaches a total of 12 points within 12 months, they will receive a 1-time race ban!
Kevin Magnussen will now be forced to sit out the next grand prix, which is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix! Pierre Gasly spoke out against this ban and vouched for Magnussen. Last season Pierre Gasly nearly had the same fate as Kevin, as he received 11 points during the 12-month period!