Kevin Magnussen points to ‘very simple’ IndyCar racing rules as rare F1 race ban looms

Kevin Magnussen believes Formula 1 can take a page out of IndyCar’s book and how they go racing as he stares at the prospect of a race ban.

Magnussen finds himself walking the tightrope at Imola as he is sat on 10 FIA super licence points, he knows that just two more incurred will trigger a one-race ban, the Dane having inflated his total with controversial defensive tactics in Jeddah and Miami to benefit Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.

Kevin Magnussen calls for FIA orders to return positions

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

With none of those points dropping off his super licence before next season, Magnussen admits that he will now need to be on his best behaviour to avoid a ban, but with three of these points coming after repeatedly leaving the track and gaining an advantage in Miami, he suggests a re-think of the penalty points system is needed.

Asked by media including PlanetF1.com whether he will adopt a more cautious approach at Imola, Magnussen replied: “I think the next time is a race ban so I think I will have to.

“But I think these situations, where I’ve had to play the support role for my team-mate, they have been paying off, so it’s been kind of valuable to us.

“I don’t love the way the rules are, that it’s possible. I would love it to not be possible at all. But since the rules are as they are, you know, I didn’t make the rules.

“So I think there’s stuff to be looked at there and for my myself, I’m on 10 points, so yeah, I have to be careful not to get a race ban.

“I think the fact that I’m at risk of a race ban for driving outside of some white lines on a piece of tarmac, I don’t know if I feel that that is right. But it is the way the rules are, so I accept that.

“But I feel there’s room for improvement there. Not only in terms of the points. There are more races now than there was back when they were introduced and I feel you can end up getting a race ban effectively for a very minor thing.”

During his Formula 1 hiatus, Magnussen made an appearance over in IndyCar with Arrow McLaren SP, though the bulk of his racing experience in the United States came through the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

And Magnussen would praise the simplicity of the IndyCar rules which made for great racing, arguing that the FIA should police these instances of leaving the track and gaining an advantage by ordering a driver to return a position, or face a “very harsh” consequence.

Team managers will meet with the FIA on Friday to discuss potential measures to tackle the kind of tactics used by Magnussen in Jeddah and Miami, which could include harsher punishments for repeat offenders in a race.

“I think the best thing would be for the FIA to tell us to give back positions and then the consequences for not doing that being harsh,” said Magnussen, “like, really harsh, so you make sure that’s being done.

“Because I think it gets too complicated and also too bigger consequence for, you know, you have to be able to leave a little bit of room to go over the limit and then come back from that, whereas now, if they judge it to be an unfair advantage and it’s a drive-through penalty, I think that’s not good.

“I’ve raced in IndyCar and I loved the way they race over there and I feel the rules are very, very clear and very simple and the racing is great.

“And the racing has to be great amongst the 20 best drivers in the world. One thing is that Formula 1 drivers are fast, but also very good at racing and I think you have to showcase that. That has to be part of it.

“We all came from karting and learned to race each other and I feel now certainly for myself, with the guidelines this year, some of that is going against like the natural racing dynamic that we’ve all learned from young kids.

“I know that’s a separate issue as to the going off and holding people back and all this stuff that I got penalties for. I think that can be solved with telling us to give back positions and the penalty for not doing that be very, very harsh.”

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Magnussen also thinks the type of tracks which Formula 1 generally visits is an issue to address with the amount of run-off area, with Imola having added additional gravel traps in a bid to combat track limits violations.

“You mentioned tracks, I think that’s a big part too,” Magnussen continued.

“I raced, as I said, in IndyCar and also in sportscars in America and I did the whole championship in America and one thing that stood out was the tracks and how unbelievably different they are to F1 tracks.

“And the cars over there, they are low as well, we bounced around in the sportscars over there and I don’t see it that different from here, but I feel like we are very sensitive to track stuff in Formula 1.

“I like the rough tracks. I prefer those. But also to the racing issue, tracks that have grass or gravel on the outside, you just put this natural limit in and then it sorts itself out. So I feel like that is also an issue in Formula 1, just the tracks in general.”

Magnussen is racing to secure his Haas future for next season, with team-mate Nico Hulkenberg already confirmed for an upcoming move to Sauber.

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