F1 banned Kevin Magnussen for wrong race after Azerbaijan Grand Prix decision according to Jacques Villeneuve

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Jacques Villeneuve is adamant that Formula 1 has banned Kevin Magnussen for the wrong race with the Haas driver forced to sit out the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

The pinnacle of motorsport is getting an early glimpse of 2025 this weekend as the 31-year-old watches from the sidelines. Haas have promoted Oliver Bearman to replace Magnussen at the Azerbaijan GP, running the 19-year-old who will race with them full-time next season.

Bearman will form a new-look Haas line-up after the American team moved to sign Esteban Ocon and let Magnussen’s contract expire. Nico Hulkenberg will also leave Haas at the close of the year after signing a multi-year contract with Audi which sees him join Sauber in 2025.

Jacques Villeneuve is adamant Kevin Magnussen should have been banned after the Monaco Grand Prix

Haas got the chance to run Bearman early at the Azerbaijan GP as Magnussen must serve a one-race ban after accumulating 12 penalty points on his super licence. The Dane had been walking a tightrope since the Miami Grand Prix but ultimately went over the limit at Monza.

Magnussen picked up two penalty points for causing a collision with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in the Italian Grand Prix. The stewards’ decision was rather harsh as the two drivers only made slight contact and did not get damage from Magnussen’s failed dive at Variante della Roggia.

But Villeneuve is adamant that it is time Magnussen got a race ban, yet it should have come right after his crash with Sergio Perez in the Monaco Grand Prix. The 1997 Formula 1 drivers’ champion even thinks he got the penalty points in Monza after not doing so in Monte Carlo.

“He got so many [penalty points] before that and every driver, there’s been years of drivers complaining, complaining, complaining about Kevin,” Villeneuve told Sky Sports F1 (14/09, 10:57). “And when he gets it they’re like, ‘He shouldn’t get penalised for it’.

“No, actually, you spent three years complaining about him, so what’s the issue now? And he should have had that penalty in Monaco already, there he really deserved it. And I think that’s why they gave it a little bit more easier.”

Sergio Perez was arguably more at fault than Kevin Magnussen for their Monaco GP crash

Magnussen escaped any penalty points in Monte Carlo as the stewards deemed his opening lap incident with Perez to be a racing incident. It can also be argued that the Red Bull driver was more at fault for their collision that took them both out of the race than the Haas racer.

Perez and Magnussen crashed in the Monaco GP despite the former checking his mirror and seeing the Haas pilot positioning a move on the run to Beau Rivage. The Red Bull driver then holding the racing line also left Magnussen with no room to prevent them both crashing out.

But while Magnussen survived to race another day after his collision with Perez, he survived only on borrowed time. It was nearly inevitable that the Dane would pick up further penalty points and trigger the automatic race ban having picked up the first of his 12 back in March.

What did Kevin Magnussen get his 12 penalty points and a race ban for?

Formula 1 drivers face an automatic one-race ban if they ever accumulate 12 penalty points on their super licence. Penalty points also stay on the licence for 12 months before expiring. Magnussen received his 12 penalty points and a ban for the Azerbaijan GP for the following:

• Three points – Kevin Magnussen caused a collision with Alex Albon in the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on March 9
• Two points – Kevin Magnussen caused a collision with Yuki Tsunoda in the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix on April 21
• Three points – Kevin Magnussen left the track and gained an advantage multiple times in the F1 Sprint at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix on May 4 while fighting Lewis Hamilton
• Two points – Kevin Magnussen caused a collision with Logan Sargeant in the 2024 Miami Grand Prix on May 5
• Two points – Kevin Magnussen caused a collision with Pierre Gasly in the 2024 Italian Grand Prix on September 1