Kevin Magnussen banned from Baku GP after Monza crash

Kevin Magnussen's latest on-track incident at Monza has resulted in a one-race ban for the Haas driver, leaving the team in a precarious position as they prepare for the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen is set to miss the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after being found guilty of causing a collision with Pierre Gasly at the Italian Grand Prix.

This incident has brought his tally of penalty points to the maximum 12 within a 12-month period.

The Dane was hit with a 10-second penalty and two penalty points for the incident at the Variante della Roggia chicane, where the stewards deemed him "wholly to blame" for the contact.

This latest infraction takes Magnussen over the threshold for an automatic one-race ban.

Magnussen expressed his bewilderment at the decision, feeling that the penalty was disproportionate compared to other incidents during the Monza weekend.

"I don't understand it at all,"

he said.

"Me and Gasly raced hard into Turn 4. Before, we had slight contact, we both missed the corner, came back on track again, no damage to either car, no consequence to the race of either of us, and I get a 10-second penalty."

The Haas driver pointed to the earlier clash between his teammate Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, where the latter was given a less severe five-second penalty for a move that "completely destroyed Nico's race."

With Magnussen now set to sit out the race in Baku, Haas finds itself in a precarious position.

The American outfit has reserve drivers Oliver Bearman and Pietro Fittipaldi on standby, but the loss of an experienced hand like Magnussen could prove costly in the tight midfield battle.

Bearman has already gained some F1 experience this season, substituting for the recovering Carlos Sainz at Jeddah.

Fittipaldi, meanwhile, is no stranger to filling in, having replaced the injured Romain Grosjean at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.

However, the absence of Magnussen, who has been a consistent points scorer for Haas this season, will be a significant blow.

The team will be hoping that they can minimize the impact of his ban and keep their championship aspirations on track.

As for Magnussen, his penalty points will revert to zero when he returns to action at the Singapore Grand Prix.

But the Dane will be eager to avoid further indiscretions that could jeopardize his and Haas' season.