Magnussen: Penalty was fair

After receiving a penalty for his aggressively defending his position against manor driver Pascal Wehlrein, Kevin Magnussen has admitted that it was a fair decision.

During the incident at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, Magnussen and Wehrlein were both in for P17, with the Dane passing the Mercedes development driver on Turn 1.

As the lap progressed, Magnussen, who placed in P14, repeatedly cut off the German youngster to keep his position, which called for an investigation from the FIA.

“The car felt good and we made a reasonable first stint,” said Magnussen.

“Unfortunately the Safety Car didn’t work for us and after that we weren’t able to deliver the pace to get a stronger result – that said, both cars were there at the end which wasn’t the same for a few teams.

“The penalty was fair enough as I did move more than once and you’re not allowed to do that; equally I didn’t know which way he was looking to try to pass and sometimes it’s difficult to make the right call.”

On a positive note, Magnussen’s teammate Jolyon Palmer finished in P12, his highest ever finish in F1 and is looking forward to the British Grand Prix this weekend.

“We just needed that little bit of extra luck and we could have been within the points,” said Palmer.

“Had we needed to change to Soft tyres when the Safety Car came out [on lap 27/71], we might have been able to make a pit-stop then get to the end on that set to score points.

“I’ve been feeling stronger and stronger over the last few races and knowing that we could have done well makes me hopeful for points at the next round at Silverstone.”