Martin Brundle shares whether he thinks Kevin Magnussen should be banned in Baku

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Kevin Magnussen will be forced to sit out the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after picking up a penalty during the Italian Grand Prix for a collision with Pierre Gasly.

While the collision itself was not enough to warrant the race ban, Kevin Magnussen accumulated 12 points in a 12-month period on his FIA super licence after various collisions on track.

Haas is yet to announce their replacement for Baku, but those in the F1 paddock suspect it will be reserve driver Oliver Bearman who makes his full-time debut with the American team next year.

The team needs to ask permission from Ferrari first before they can run him on track as he is their official reserve driver, although they could also fall back on Pietro Fittipaldi.

Writing in his column on Sky Sports, former F1 driver Martin Brundle has shared whether he thinks Magnussen should be banned for the next race.

Martin Brundle thinks Kevin Magnussen penalty is ‘harsh’

Magnussen managed to recover to 10th after starting from 13th on the grid, scoring Haas’ only points of the race after teammate Nico Hulkenberg dropped out.

The Dane was racing for position with Gasly at the Variante della Roggia when they made contact, forcing both to take to the run-off and rejoin. 

Brundle was full of praise for Magnussen at the end of the race and felt his penalty for the collision with Gasly was harsh.

“Kevin Magnussen finished a fighting 10th for Haas despite attracting a 10-second penalty for generating a collision,” said Brundle.

“Along with the 10 seconds, he also gathered two more penalty points on his licence which takes him to the critical 12, meaning he must miss the next race in Baku.

“This seems harsh, points should only be applied to very serious driving misdemeanours, and otherwise the time penalty itself should suffice.”

Kevin Magnussen ‘staunchly defended’ by Fernando Alonso

Magnussen was ‘staunchly defended’ by Fernando Alonso after picking up the penalty points over the Monza weekend, after feeling it was heavy-handed from the stewards.

It is the fifth Grand Prix that Magnussen has picked up penalties along with points on his super licence, following several on-track incidents this season.

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

Magnussen first accumulating three for a collision with Alex Albon at the Saudi Arabian GP, the two for a crash with Yuki Tsunoda at China, and five at the Miami GP for multiple incidents.

He is the first driver since Romain Grosjean in 2012 to be parked for a race, which was before the penalty points system was introduced.