Should F1 ban Kevin Magnussen’s blocking strategy from the Saudi Arabian GP?

Kevin Magnussen held up quite a few cars at the Saudi Arabian GP with his antics in the VF-24.

Should F1 ban Kevin Magnussen’s blocking strategy from the Saudi Arabian GP?

Kevin Magnussen (Via: Imago)

The 2024 Saudi Arabian GP is going to be remembered for quite a few reasons. From Max Verstappen winning the 50-lap event by a margin of 13 seconds to Oliver Bearman‘s sensational seventh-place finish, the event made decent noise among fans.

While all these things added quite a few stars to the Saudi Arabian GP, there was one driver in the name of Kevin Magnussen, who also managed to amass quite a few headlines despite finishing in P12. At a certain point in the race, Magnussen was the lead car in a DRS train that comprised of 3-4 cars running closely behind him.

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The 31-year-old had the lights of Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, Esteban Ocon, and Logan Sargeant behind him. While he was holding up the above-mentioned drivers, he was also at the same time, creating a window for his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg to come into the pits for a change of tires.

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At the end of it all, Magnussen managed to create enough of a buffer for Hulkenberg. The latter rejoined the race ahead of the DRS train on lap 34 and secure a crucial point for Haas in P10. While the Kannapolis-based team scored a point, the Dane’s antics remain a bubbling topic of discussion.

On one hand, he showed tremendous racecraft to keep the chasing pack at bay. But on the other, many felt that it was not sportsmanlike. Magnussen had two 10-second penalties, one of which was for his dangerous lap 10 overtake on Alex Albon.

However, despite all the antics of Kevin Magnussen at the Jeddah Cornice Circuit, all the FIA can do at the moment is to have a look at it and decide if blocking tactics should be allowed in F1 or not. The sport is a game of strategy and Haas played it brilliantly!!

Kevin Magnussen received immense applause from Haas in Saudi Arabia

While Kevin Magnussen’s effort at the Saudi Arabian GP has got its critics, it is going to be remembered for some time to come. Moreover, for his mighty display, he received immense praise. Several pundits as well as his Haas F1 team applauded him.

Kevin Magnussen (Credits: Imago)
Kevin Magnussen (Credits: Imago)

After Max Verstappen and Oliver Bearman, Magnussen was probably the one who amassed the most attention.

Today, Kevin got two penalties, but once we realized he was out of points contention, we made a great call. And Kev drove fantastically to hold those guys back while setting a target lap time, and Nico drove faultlessly. It was a huge team effort, congratulations to everyone, and I’m really looking forward to the next race
Ayao Komatsu said after Saudi Arabian GP, as reported by SB Nation

Kevin Magnussen has become the talk of the town among the F1 community heading to the Australian Grand Prix. Moreover, keeping in view the history of Albert Park, fascinating/controversial moments could take place during the upcoming event.

The world of F1 never fails to disappoint, with another 22 Grand Prix remaining in the season, unique scenarios like Magnussen’s Saudi Arabian GP antics are surely going to pop up once again and force the fans into deep thinking. Whenever fans think that they have seen it all, the sport somehow manages to come up with something extraordinary.

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