Historic: he is about to become the first F1 driver to lose points on his licence

From 2014in the implementation of the F1 points license, each driver has 12 points to him super license. These 12 points can be deducted as stewards penalize drivers for accidents or track violations. Each point lost will be recovered after one calendar year since the sanction. And if within that year a driver loses 12 points, he will be punished with a ban from competing in a race. Big prize. That is something that has never happened with the points licensing system. But it may happen soon.

Kevin Magnussen is very close to making F1 history as the first driver to be banned from competing in an F1 race due to the loss of points on his license after the penalties received in Miami.

Currently, the Dane has lost 10 out of 12 points so far this season, in just 6 events, something that will force him to compete in the remaining 18 races aware of the risk of receiving a penalty that will leave the his points.

If he loses 12 points, the Dane will be out of the next race, something that has never happened before with this penalty system. Of course, he would not be the first to miss a Grand Prix due to suspension. Before that points system came into effect, without continuing, Grosjean was allowed in 2012 to not compete in the Monza race due to an accident that caused Alonso and Hamilton to abandon at the start of the Belgian GP in that year.

5 points a week

It’s no secret that Magnussen is one of the most aggressive drivers on the grid and on many occasions drives at the limit of the regulations. A clear example of this is what happened last weekend in Miami.

On Saturday, in the sprint race, he defended himself against Hamilton, first holding the Englishman and then forcing him off the track by going too hard on the brakes inside a curve. All, to allow his teammate Hülkenberg, riding in front, to have time to add the two points that gave him 7th place. That defense of his teammate, going beyond any kind of limit, is reminiscent of what Kevin himself did in Saudi Arabia this season, where he was penalized 20 seconds during the race while creating a large train behind him which benefited Hülkenberg so that the German could add a point.

A day later, on Sunday, Kevin did not learn his lesson and caused an accident with the Sergeant that led to the American’s retirement. He did it in a very optimistic action, trying to pass the Williams driver with no room in a corner that was too fast.

So, throughout the weekend he added 65 penalty seconds (between race and sprint) and 5 lost superlicense points which left him on the edge of the fridge.

“We have a case of deliberate behavior in terms of hurting another competitor and this behavior continues within the same race and repeatedly throughout the same season,” criticized McLaren team boss Andrea Stella, referring to Magnussen.

“How can sanctions be cumulative? They should be exponential. It’s not five plus five plus five equals 15. Five plus five plus five equals maybe you have to spend a weekend at home with your family and reflect on your sportsmanship and then come back…” And that might come true this season if Kevin messes up.