Haas admits to having played with penalties in its favor during the race in Jeddah

Ayao Komatsu, the director of the Haas Formula 1 team, acknowledges that Kevin Magnussen should have let Yuki Tsunoda pass in Jeddah after overtaking him off track, but he praised his defensive spirit that still allowed the team to score a point in the championship. Magnussen’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was marred by an initial 10-second penalty for contact with Alex Albon (Williams).

He then focused on holding back the other drivers behind him so that his teammate Nico Hülkenberg, who had not made a pit stop during an early safety car period, could pull away and secure 10th place. The key to this strategy was overtaking Yuki Tsunoda’s Racing Bulls (AlphaTauri) on the 17th lap, which Magnussen did by going off track.

Instead of giving up position to Tsunoda, Magnussen chose to take an additional 10-second penalty, allowing him to continue blocking his rivals so that Hülkenberg could pit and come back out in front of him to secure a valuable point. Racing Bulls criticized the move as “unsportsmanlike” and stated that they would raise the issue with the FIA.

For this season, the FIA had already increased the penalty for this type of off-track overtaking to gain an advantage from five to ten seconds in order to deter drivers from choosing to be penalized to gain a position on track. And even though it technically worked for Magnussen, whose own race was ruined, it didn’t stop him from helping his teammate.

The team principal of Haas, Komatsu, has acknowledged that Magnussen should have simply given back the position and tried to overtake the Japanese driver again, which he believes the Dane could have done in terms of pace.

« I believe that at that point in the race, if I remember the broadcast correctly, we were fighting with Tsunoda for P10,” Komatsu, Haas’ new director after the dismissal of Günther Steiner, declared.

Of course, we should have given back the position, we should have tried to overtake him. I believe that with our pace, we could have done it. So, I think in the end, we were still fighting for P10. Whether we could have made it with Magnussen is another question.

Commenting on the incident, Magnussen declared: “I overtook Tsunoda by going off the track, so rules are rules.”

I am not happy with myself for having received these two penalties, but at least I was able to help the team create a gap so that Nico could pit and secure a point. It’s a tight battle among the five teams at the back. From 6th to 10th place, it’s a real championship, so every point counts.

Komatsu congratulated Magnussen on making his car the widest F1 car to be seen in a long time as he battled to keep Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, and Alex Albon behind him, all while being asked to drive much slower than what Nico Hülkenberg was doing to give the German driver a lead of at least a tire change at the pit stop.

Once Tsunoda appeared to pass him at the beginning of the 29th lap, Magnussen retook the position with a bold move on the outside of turn 1.

I told myself: ‘Well, it’s over…’ And then Kevin just passed on the outside in turn 1. Incredible, incredible work,” Komatsu commented.

He was told to make laps around 1m36 and he was doing 36.2, 36.2, 36.2… “That’s the widest Haas you’ve seen in a long time,” joked the new manager.

On his part, Racing Bulls’ technical director, Alan Permane, wants explanations from the FIA.

Magnussen deliberately left the track to get in front of Yuki and then slowed him down to two seconds per lap, allowing Hülkenberg, who had not yet made his pit stop, to create a gap and of course to stop in front of all the cars behind.

This, to me, does not seem right, and it is the very definition of dishonest behavior. I am sure that we and other teams will discuss it with the FIA for future races.