Kevin Magnussen was handed a 10-second penalty after he made contact with Pierre Gasly during the Italian Grand Prix.
The pair were battling for position entering the second chicane when Magnussen on the inside locked up and skated into the Alpine.
The contact was comparatively minimal and neither driver was unduly impacted by the clash.
However, officials took a dim view of it, handing the Dane a 10-second time penalty.
That came with two penalty points on his Super Licence, taking his tally over a 12-month period to 12, which means he will be banned for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in two weeks.
“Really frustrated about the penalty,” Magnussen said.
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“I don’t understand it at all. Flat out, just completely confused.
“We raced hard into Turn 4, we had slight contact, we both missed the corner, came back on track again; no damage to the car, no consequence to the race for either of us, and I get a 10-second penalty.
“Then, Lap 1, [Daniel] Ricciardo and Nico [Hulkenberg], Ricciardo put Nico on the grass at 300km/h, completely destroyed Nico’s race, massive consequence and damage to Nico’s car, and he gets a five-second penalty.
“Where’s the logic?”
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According to the infringement noticed published by the stewards, it was their opinion that Magnussen had breached driving standards.
“On the approach to Turn 4, Car 20 attempted to overtake Car 10 on the inside,” they noted.
“Whilst Car 20 had its front axle past the mirror of Car 10, the Driving Standards Guidelines specify that an overtaking car has to ‘be driven in a safe and controlled manner throughout the manoeuvre’.
“The Stewards determined that this was not the case for Car 20 and hence the driver was wholly to blame for the collision and hence the standard penalty and penalty points are allocated.”
That ruling was followed by a subsequent document, confirming Magnussen’s one-race ban.
“In accordance with Article 4.2 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, as the Driver of Car 20 has accrued 12 penalty points (see Document 57), the Super Licence of the driver of Car 20 must be suspended for the next Competition,” it outlined.
News of Magnussen’s fate left Gasly surprised, too.
Like the Haas driver, he felt it was a racing incident and did not warrant the penalty it received.
“I’m a bit surprised for that,” he said of the 10-second penalty.
“He tried, but it was a bit of wheel-to-wheel. It didn’t, in the end, really lose any time.”
The Frenchman, who has himself flirted with potential race bans for penalty points in the past, added that he was willing to advocate for Magnussen.
“I’ll be happy to do it,” he said when asked if he’d speak to the stewards.
“I’ll see what I can do, but that’ll feel very unfair for the incident that it was.”
Magnussen otherwise drove a fine race, moving up from 13th on the grid to the last points-paying position in 10th.
With RB not scoring, it leaves Haas six points back from the Italian squad in their battle for sixth in the constructors’ championship.
Haas will carry an all-new driver line up in 2025 with current Alpine-pilot Esteban Ocon joining the team along with Ferrari academy driver Oliver Bearman.
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