F1 driver Alex Albon calls for FIA to 'review' penalties after race controversy

Alexander Albon, Bahrain GP, Williams, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 driver calls for FIA to 'review' penalties after race controversy

Alex Albon wants more action to be taken against offending drivers in the future

By Tyler Rowlinson.

Tuesday 26 March 2024 04:00

Alex Albon has aimed criticism at the penalty system in F1 as he believes the current sanctions are not enough.

The Thai driver’s comments come after his incident with Kevin Magnussen at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

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The Haas driver accumulated 20 seconds worth of penalties during the race – 10 for making contact with Albon and 10 for overtaking Yuki Tsunoda while off the track.

As a result, Magnussen abandoned his own race in favour of his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg and was accused by Visa Cash App RB of driving deliberately slowly to hold up other drivers to create a gap and allow Hulkenberg to make a pit stop.

Kevin Magnussen abandoned his race in Jeddah after two penalties

Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg benefitted and scored a point

Albon calls for tighter penalties

“Five to ten seconds is still not really a punishing situation, especially when you’re a top team,” he said.

“You can easily pull out ten seconds, if you do it early enough in the race. Tyre degradation, generally around most tracks, can be one to two seconds a lap, so it only takes five laps to achieve it.

“Let’s see how it goes, but I do think it needs a review.”

Alex Albon believes time penalties are not effective

In the case of Magnussen in Jeddah, the Williams driver suggested that the driver having to give up the position would be better than getting sanctioned with a 10-second penalty.

“I know there’s kind of been an incentive to leave it up to the teams and the drivers to decide if they need to give the position back,” he added.

“But in such a clear cut situation like [Magnussen’s manoeuvre], if you’re forced to give the position back that could also work.”

F1 Haas Nico Hulkenberg Alex Albon Kevin Magnussen Saudi Arabian Grand Prix