Kevin Magnussen has dropped a position in the Spanish Grand Prix race results after the race stewards determined that he was at fault for a race collision. As a result of the penalty, he finds himself in P15, bumping Felipe Nasr up into P14.
The collision happened in turn 13 on the final lap of the race. Magnussen made contact with his teammate, Jolyon Palmer. While attempting to overtake, the Dane misjudged the corner and collided with his teammate. Ultimately, the collision didn’t impact Palmer very much, as he was able to finish in front of his teammate in P13.
Magnussen was on a newer set of the soft compound tyre and was lapping faster than his teammate, who was on an older set of hard compound tyres. As a result, Magnussen believed that he should overtake his teammate for a race position. However, the move was unsuccessful.
After reviewing the incident, the stewards decided that Magnussen should never have expected to make it through the corner without making contact. The stewards classed the issue as avoidable contact and added ten seconds to Magnussen’s race time. In accordance with the regulations, the FIA also added two penalty points on his license for the issue.
This wasn’t the only teammate collision that the stewards investigated in the race. Mercedes were also under investigation of their first lap collision which took both drivers out of the Grand Prix. The stewards did not penalize this issue, calling it a “racing incident” and stating that neither driver had violated any of the regulations governed by the FIA.
