Lawrence Barretto shares ‘favourite’ to replace Kevin Magnussen in Baku after earning one-race ban

Follow us on Google Discover

The Italian Grand Prix was both positive and negative for Kevin Magnussen as he earned Haas another important point in the Constructors’ Championship.

Kevin Magnussen started the race in 13^th after watching teammate Nico Hulkenberg once again reach Q3.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari relationship

However, Hulkenberg’s race was partially ruined by a poor first lap including an incident where he was pushed wide by Daniel Ricciardo that saw the Australian pick up a time penalty.

Magnussen benefitted from Ricciardo’s penalty and then watched his teammate slam into Yuki Tsunoda which earned him a penalty and ended the Japanese driver’s race.

The Danish driver made sure that Hulkenberg wasn’t the only Haas driver the stewards were taking a look at.

Magnussen hit Alpine driver Pierre Gasly going into the second chicane at Monza although neither driver picked up any damage.

READ MORE: Haas driver Kevin Magnussen’s life outside F1 from wife and daughters to net worth

Unfortunately, it was almost identical to a similar collision Magnussen had earlier in the campaign that earned him two penalty points and the FIA confirmed that he’s received the same punishment on this occasion.

Magnussen was at the top of the penalty points standings and after reaching 12 points, he earned a one-race ban for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

Journalist Lawrence Barretto shared the news on social media and has suggested that Oliver Bearman is the ‘favourite’ to replace Magnussen.

It makes sense for the Ferrari junior driver to get an early taste of a full F1 race weekend before joining the team on a full-time basis in 2025.

Oliver Bearman ‘favourite’ to replace Kevin Magnussen in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Posting on X after the news was confirmed, Barretto said: “Kevin Magnussen picked up 2 penalty points in the #ItalianGP.

“That makes 12 which means he’s set for a race ban. He’ll miss Baku – one of his stronger tracks.

“I understand Ollie Bearman is favourite to stand-in, ahead of his full-time debut with the team in 2025.”

Journalist Andrew Benson also commented on X that Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur did not comment on whether Bearman would be allowed to drive for Haas at the next race.

A driver hasn’t been banned from a race since Romain Grosjean in 2012.

Grosjean had a horrific accident with Fernando Alonso at Spa that saw drive across the front of the Spaniard and narrowly missed making contact with his helmet after going airborne.

Oliver Bearman comes into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in fantastic form

Bearman rose to prominence at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix earlier in the season when he replaced Carlos Sainz at very late notice.

The young Brit scored points that weekend and it put him in a brilliant position to earn a full-time race seat next year.

Haas were more interested in Bearman’s FP1 runs with the team as well as how he performed in Jeddah and he’ll join Esteban Ocon next year.

READ MORE: Who is 2025 Haas driver and Ferrari gem Oliver Bearman? Everything to know

Bearman’s Formula 2 campaign hasn’t gone to plan with Prema but he had a race weekend to remember in Monza.

He won the Sprint Race in style and showed his racecraft after a fantastic battle with fellow future F1 graduate Kimi Antonelli in the Feature Race.

Baku is one of the trickiest circuits on the grid and it’ll be a great test of Bearman’s capabilities if he does replace Magnussen.

It’s a track Bearman has previous form at though after taking pole position last season in F2 before winning both the Sprint and Feature Races.