Despite the recent disputes between the FIA and Liberty Media, Formula One’s governing body has over the years become more collaborative with the competitors and commercial rights holders. Gone are the days when autocratic diktats come down from the Place de Concorde in fact co-operation at a variety of levels between all parties to the Concorde Agreement is taking place behind the scenes.
Take the specifications for the 2026 cars as an example. The FIA released on time the final specifications for the new V6 turbo hybrids, but delayed thos pertaining to the 2026 car itself given concerns from the teams over that in their current format are unworkable.
Decisions are being made over how exactly the extra moveable area parts should be designed and deployed, though time is running out as the memorandum banning the teams from work on the 2026 cars expires 31st December this year.
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Yet this apparent love in doesn’t mean conflict and irritation are completely absent between the FIA and F1 competitors. The latest spat is between the drivers and the FIA following the ban of Kevin Magnussen last time out at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Magnussen was given two penalty points in Monza for a racing incident with Pierre Gasly bringing his total to twelve and an automatic race ban next time out in Baku. The Dane is the only driver ever to be banned under the penalty points system which the drivers now argue is too punitive.
Roman Grosjean received a one race ban back in 2012, but this was for a one off incident at the start of the Belgium Grand Prix which caused carnage. Grosjean made a good start and moved up to the inside of La Source, but in doing so, squeezed Hamilton between himself and the pit wall.
The two touched wheels, both drivers losing control. Grosjean then speared into the back of Pérez and became airborne, crashing heavily into Alonso, missing Alonso’s head by a few inches [pre-halo]. Grosjean came to rest at the outside wall. Hamilton crashed into Kobayashi as well as Alonso after Grosjean’s heavy impact.
FIA accused of inconsistency
The incident divided the paddock with Grosjean earning sympathy from some of his fellow drivers who felt the outright ban was too harsh a penalty.
Now again the drivers are calling on the FIA to modify its criteria by which the stewards decided one whether penalty points should be applied or not. The original intention was these penalties would be awarded for “dangerous driving” but mission creep has seen it permeate other on track misdemeanours.
Inconsistency has been the accusation drivers have made against the stewards this season as Magnussen reflected following the incident in Monza.
“I don’t understand it at all, just completely confused,” Magnussen said. “Me and Gasly raced hard into Turn 4. Before, we had slight contact, we both missed the corner, came back on track again, no damage to either car, no consequence to the race of either of us, and I get a 10-second penalty.
“But lap one, Ricciardo put Nico in the grass at 300km/h, completely destroyed Nico’s race, massive consequence and damage to Nico’s car, and he gets a five-second penalty. Where’s the logic? I just don’t get it.”
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Punishments too harsh says Albon
London born Thai driver Alex Albon has leant his support to the Dane and others being penalised for transgressions not originally intended for penalty points. “Everyone’s under an understanding that we’ve just got to shuffle the system around a little bit,” Albon said as reported by RacingNews365.
“It needs to be a little bit more forgiving around what constitutes penalty points and whatnot. If it’s done right, then it can be okay to have,” the Williams driver concluded.
The speed Magnussen has collected his points has been unusual along with the fact Magnussen began the year with no points hanging over him at all. The first ten came between March 9 and May 5 with Kevin collecting his first three at round 2 in Jeddah, ironically for a collision with Alex Albon.
Knowing his team mate was on a better tyre strategy, Magnussen attempted to create a buffer behind him by driving slowly where possible hindering the likes of Albon and Gasly. Indeed he overtook Yuki Tsunoda off track, failed to return the position, and was awarded a ten second penalty for his efforts.
The ‘go slow’ in Jeddah
As Alain Permane of RB bemoaned after the race. “What then happened was a little difficult to take. Magnussen drove off the track to deliberately put himself in front of Yuki and then slowed him down by up to two seconds a lap, which allowed Hulkenberg, who hadn’t stopped yet, to create a gap and of course pit in front of all the cars behind.”
Magnussen also received a ten second penalty for his collision with Albon yet the stewards on reflection clearly felt his deliberate illegal overtake on Tsundo and the subsequent ‘go slow’ to aid his team mate, merited three points for the Dane.
Some have argued this does not fit the original intention of ‘dangerous driving’ and the FIA needs to reign in the number of penalty points being awarded.
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Kevin returns to “f**k s**t up
Kevin accrued two more points for another incident in China and a further five in Miami took the Haas driver up to ten. Returning to the pit lane in Singapore after sitting out the previous weekend, Magnussen joked about his remaining seven races of the year.
Now with a clean license Magnussen was asked whether he would be racing hard in the remaining race weekends. “Yeah exactly!” he chuckled adding, “I mean, it’s kinda… you get punished, and then you come back, and you’re like all ready to… f**k s**t up now! It’s funny how that works.”
Fernando Alonso is the next driver at risk of a race ban as the Aston Martin driver currently sits with eight penalty points on his super license. The Spaniard has eight Grand Prix weekends together with four Sprints to earn less than four points before his current misdemeanours expire starting March 24th next year.
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Red Bull Racing have faced a torrid year on a number of fronts all starting with an internal power struggle and Christian Horner being accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female employee. Then came the bombshell that Adrian Newey was leaving after nigh on twenty years service at Milton Keynes.
The tea have since suffered a number of other high profile exits with Rob Marshall joining the leadership team at McLaren, Jonathan Wheatley off to head up the Audi F1 project and more recently Will Courtney announcing he wold be leaving his role as head of strategy to become sporting director at McLaren.
For the first ten race weekends of the year, Red Bull and Max Verstappen looked to be picking up from where they left off in 2023. Max won seven of the ten Grand Prix and by the time the world champion won the Spanish Grand Prix he had a comfortable lead in the drivers’ championship… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
