Magnussen wants rules on driver aids changed

Jamie Woodhouse
Kevin Magnussen PA

Kevin Magnussen to join Peugeot's WEC hyperclass outfit according to a report.

Kevin Magnussen believes the rules surrounding driver aids need to be looked at following Haas’ double-penalty in Hungary.

Both drivers were told to pit and change tyres on the formation lap, a move which paid off as Magnussen briefly moved into a podium position.

However, Haas’ bubble was burst after both Magnussen and team-mate Romain Grosjean were given 10-second time penalties with that strategic call said to be a breach of the rules on driver aids.

Teams aren’t allowed to provide information or make changes which helps their racer drive the car, so giving such a command to change tyres before the race had started, rather than during the event, is considered against the rules.

But Magnussen believes it’s a time for a change.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the British Grand Prix, he said: “Certainly it feels like these rules weren’t made to stop what we did in the race.

“I think they were meant to stop us fiddling around with clutch settings and race start procedures to try and make the race starts more random. I don’t think they were meant to stop strategic calls before the race. But it is what it is.”

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Magnussen believes Haas’ choice to go from intermediate to dry tyres before the race start is the kind of decision which makes Formula 1 more exciting, so shouldn’t be punished.

“Maybe they need to look at it for that, for strategic calls, because I think if we aren’t allowed to do that, that is going to take away from the show,” he suggested.

“It is exciting when you have these conditions that are right on the crossover and you can see these strategic calls.

“It would be good if they could allow that clearly in the rules. I don’t think it was 100% clear but it is what it is.”

The penalty saw Magnussen drop from P9 to P10, meaning he scored just one point, but he didn’t find out about it until the was back at home.

“I didn’t know until I landed in Denmark after the race on Sunday,” he revealed.

“I hadn’t thought about it because in my mind we’re not allowed to talk about any procedures and if the guys aren’t allowed to give us any instructions on burnouts and any driver aids on the formation lap.

“I feel like we did that, it was a communication only about whether to pit or not. And not even really whether to pit or not, it was basically just to pit for dry tyres. I wouldn’t say it was completely straightforward.”

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