The can of worms opened by Magnussen's Miami F1 sprint antics

Kevin Magnussen's antics during the Miami Grand Prix weekend have left the Haas driver two points away from an F1 race ban. But it was his driving in the sprint race that has exposed a potential flaw in the penalty system, as JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE writes.

"All the penalties were well deserved. No doubt about it. But I had to play the game again," Magnussen told Sky Sports after the Miami Grand Prix sprint race. "I started using these stupid tactics, which I don’t like doing, but at the end of the day, I did my job as a team player. Nico scored his points because I got that gap for him. Lewis [Hamilton] and [Yuki] Tsunoda couldn’t catch him. Not the way I like to go racing, at all, but [it was] what I had to do today."

Let's recap the events of Miami's sprint, since they've likely become lost among the post-grand prix reaction. Something of a kerfuffle at the first corner between Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll ended up knocking Lando Norris out of the race, and the subsequent jostle for position in the midfield rather shuffled the pack. Nico Hulkenberg and Magnussen benefitted and moved up to seventh and eighth, the final two points-paying positions in Saturday's shorter race.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.