Defending those who ‘hit’ you
Suffering contact from an opponent and preparing to defend the latter from the decision taken against him by Race Direction. The 2024 Italian Grand Prix also gave us this story that went almost unnoticed compared to other more important ones, with the effects that will perhaps be seen during the Baku weekend, home of the Azerbaijan GP.
The episode in question
It all happened during the 19th lap at the Variante della Roggia, where Kevin Magnussen collided with Pierre Gasly after an unsuccessful overtaking attempt on the Frenchman. The two drivers continued their race regularly, but the Danish driver from Haas suffered a 10 second penalty for the maneuver. A penalty that was added to an even more severe one: in addition to the time penalty, the Race Direction also inflicted two points on Magnussen’s Superlicense, which reached a total of 12 points also due to other accidents that occurred during this season. According to the rules, when this figure is reached, the driver cannot take part in the next GP on the calendar, which in Magnussen’s case will be that of Azerbaijan.
Attorney Gasly
As a result, the #20 will have to serve the disqualification in Baku, but the one who spoke out against this sanction was Gasly himself. After receiving the news from the media, the Alpine driver said he was against the decision taken by Race Direction, to the point of wanting to defend Magnussen: “I hope they can go back, because it would definitely be unfair – explained the transalpine – I would be happy to defend him. I was a bit surprised by the penalty, because he tried, there was a wheel-to-wheel contact but in the end I didn’t waste any time.”
#Gasly #Magnussens #disqualification #Unfair #happy #defend
