Steiner laughs at Magnussen’s race ban: 'I think he’s pretty happy!'
F1 News
Following the news of Kevin Magnussen's race ban in Baku for receving 12 penalty points within a 12 month period, former Team Principal Guenther Steiner shared his view on the ban and how he thinks Magnussen reacted to it.
Steiner jokes about ban: 'I think he’s pretty happy, he’s got a long weekend!'
Former Haas F1 Team Principal Steiner appeared on The Red Flags Podcast on YouTube to discuss Magnussen's race ban in Baku.
Steiner saw Magnussen after receiving his ban at Monza and observed that the driver seemed to be taking the news lightly, so much so that Magnussen could even joke about it. "I think he's pretty happy. He's got a long weekend. He’s chilled out about these things. I saw him when he was leaving, I told him, 'Hey you can have a two week holiday now!' And he laughed at it, so he didn’t seem upset about it."
The former Team Principal believes Magnussen will be unbothered by his race ban as his future in F1 is already uncertain, “He’s out of the seat anyway at the end of the year, he’s not going to win a lot of things in Baku.”
When asked whether Magnussen should be paid during his suspension, Steiner stated he believes he should as the suspension was the product of the team's season-long tactics. "I would think so, some of the points he collected for the team. In the beginning of the year when he held up I don’t know who to get Nico to score (in Miami)…He held him up there, he got some penalty points there and it was clearly a team order.”
Magnussen will complete his seventh season at Haas, many of which were under Steiner’s leadership. The Dane will not be at Haas next season.
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