- Italian GP - Race
Magnussen frustrated by penalties
Kevin Magnussen said it was frustrating to receive his second penalty in as many races at the Italian Grand Prix, and that he had no intention to run Valtteri Bottas off the track.
Magnussen had the inside line as he went wheel-to-wheel with Bottas into Turn 1, leaving the Williams driver with nowhere to go but across the run-off area. No contact was made and Bottas was able to recover and pass Magnussen soon after, but the stewards still felt it was worthy of a five-second time penalty, which dropped the McLaren driver from seventh to tenth after the race.
Despite the stewards supposedly taking a more lenient approach to disciplinary action during recent races, it is Magnussen's second penalty in two races after he was also penalised in Spa for running Fernando Alonso off the road. Magnussen refused to comment on the validity of the penalty but admitted it was frustrating after such an intense race.
"It doesn't matter what I think and it doesn't make a difference to the penalty," he said. "Those are the rules and if they give me a penalty it means I broke the rules. Simple as that. It's a bit frustrating to get these penalties, but I'll have to analyse and see what I can learn and look forward to Singapore."
He said it was not his intention to run Bottas off the track and that both drivers were pushing hard but fair.
"I braked as late as I could and I was full lock to the right. Valtteri is such a fair driver, there is no reason to put him out of the track or anything like that - he's an extremely good driver. I'm sad that it had to be a penalty because I think it was great racing and I really enjoyed driving against such a great driver."
Bottas himself said he was unsure whether Magnussen's driving warranted a penalty, but did point out there are different ways the Dane could have taken the corner.
"It was on the limit, yeah. It's difficult to say if it was worth a penalty. For me there was nowhere else to go, I had to cut the chicane and didn't have the chance to overtake even though we were side by side. In the end it didn't change anything for me because I still had to overtake others.
"I think there's two ways in those if you want to keep your positions. You can do what he did or carry a bit more speed but leave a car width inside, you can still get a good exit and stay ahead."
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