Guenther Steiner has suggested giving repeat offenders drive-through penalties would prevent the antics Kevin Magnussen was criticised for at the Miami Grand Prix.
The stewards handed Magnussen 35 seconds worth of penalties during the truncated Sprint race in Miami for “unsportsmanlike” driving when racing Lewis Hamilton.
Magnussen accepted that his punishments were “well deserved”, citing how he’d instigated such tactics to protect Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg’s seventh place.
The Dane was disciplined again in the grand prix for colliding with Logan Sargeant at Turn 3, putting him onto 10 penalty points and within two of receiving a race ban.
Steiner, who served as Haas Team Principal prior to 2024, thinks Magnussen overstepped the mark with his contentious driving at the Miami International Autodrome.
“It has to be fair play. You can be aggressive, but we’ve seen this game for the second time [Magnussen was penalised in Saudi Arabia],” Steiner told Sky Deutschland.
“As a driver, you can’t be proud if you ruin someone else’s race.”
Magnussen’s controversial moves to maintain his position prompted McLaren boss Andrea Stella to assert that the Haas racer is fortunate to not have been banned.
Steiner believes the stewards should impose drive-through penalties on drivers for second infractions within the same race to prevent them from ruining others’ races.
“Once you get the first ten seconds, it doesn’t matter whether you get another ten seconds. That’s why a drive-through penalty is definitely noticeable,” he proposed.
“You then have to take this penalty within a few laps and then you’re gone and can’t cause any further trouble.”
