The nine other drivers who received a suspension in Formula 1

During the next round at the Baku circuit, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen will become the tenth driver in the history of Formula 1 to not participate in a Grand Prix due to a suspension. Following his contact with Pierre Gasly at turn 4 in Monza, the FIA authorities imposed a ten-second penalty on him as well as two points on his super license, reaching the allowed limit. Therefore, he will not be able to race in Azerbaijan and will be replaced by the future Haas driver, Ollie Bearman. However, this situation is not unprecedented, as no less than nine drivers before him had experienced the same adventure.

Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise doubly penalized in 1971.

Before the start of the 1971 season, the French driver decided to participate in an endurance race: the 1000 km of Buenos Aires. However, in the final laps, his Matra experienced a fuel issue and he therefore tried to bring it back to the pits, which was forbidden. This maneuver had terrible consequences as behind him, Ignazio Giunti, in his Ferrari, could not see Beltoise’s car in time and collided with it head-on, resulting in the death of the Argentine driver. Formula 1, having reviewed the footage of the incident, made the decision to suspend the French driver for the first race of the season in South Africa, at the Kyalami circuit. After competing in the following five races, he was once again suspended for the Grand Prix of Germany, Austria, and Italy.

The German Christian Danner in 1987

Second driver to receive this penalty, the German from Zakspeed had a very short weekend in Monaco. During the first part of qualifying, Danner was going up towards Massenet and started the climb up Beau Rivage at a slow pace to warm up his tires, not being on a fast lap. This was the opposite of the driver behind him, Italian Michele Alboreto. Seeing this, the Ferrari driver tried to overtake him, but the German returned to the racing line. The two drivers touched and Alboreto ended up between the two safety barriers. Although he escaped unscathed, the FIA still decided to exclude Christian Danner from the Monaco race, a punishment that even the Italian found harsh, believing that there had been a lack of communication between the two drivers.

Nigel Mansell, penalized following his battle with Senna

The Englishman Nigel Mansell was banned after the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix. In the midst of the battle for victory against Ayrton Senna, Mansell received a black flag following an infraction in the pits, when he had engaged reverse gear. After causing a collision with the Brazilian in turn 1, when he was not supposed to be on the track, the FIA suspended him for the following race in Spain.

Three drivers penalized in 1994

The year 1994 was full of twists and turns, but also suspensions, with three different drivers involved. The first of them is the Irishman Eddie Irvine. Already at odds with some drivers from his first Grand Prix in Japan in 1993, notably with Ayrton Senna who did not understand why he did not let him pass even though he was a lap behind, the Jordan driver repeated the same behaviour in 1994. In the opening round, he was involved in a pile-up with three other cars. While the FIA had suspended him for one race, his dismissive attitude during the appeal of the penalty forced Jordan to triple the suspension.

A few races later, it was the Finnish driver Mika Häkkinen who was under the scrutiny of the race stewards. The future double world champion was deemed responsible for a collision with David Coulthard at the German Grand Prix. In turn 1, he collided with the Scotsman. Five other drivers were also caught up in the accident. Häkkinen was eventually handed a one-race suspension, which McLaren accepted without contesting.

Finally, Michael Schumacher also received a penalty in 1994. During the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, he passed his rival Damon Hill during the formation laps before ignoring a black flag during the race, which led to a suspension for the following races. This did not prevent him from claiming his first Formula 1 title, just one point ahead of Williams’ Damon Hill.

Jacques Villeneuve crowned in 1997 despite a suspension

After Schumacher, the Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was also penalized by Formula 1 in the year he won the championship. At Suzuka, the Williams driver ignored the yellow flags after the mechanical failure of Jos Verstappen’s Tyrrell, which was his third offense of the year. Williams appealed, allowing him to race on Sunday, where he finished in fifth position before ultimately being disqualified from the race won by Schumacher. A situation that could have cost him the world championship title.

The unlikely experience of Yuji Ide in Formula 1

In 2006, the new Super Aguri team was looking for a second driver and decided to recruit a 31-year-old Japanese driver, Yuji Ide. A choice that quickly turned out to be a bad one, as the Japanese driver was not at all ready to drive a Formula 1 car. In only his fourth Grand Prix, he collided with the Dutch driver Christijan Albers. The FIA decided to suspend him and he never set foot in a Formula 1 car again, being replaced in the next race by the French driver Franck Montagny.

Grosjean responsible for the incredible crash in Belgium in 2012

In a historic season, where 7 different drivers won the first seven races of the season, the Belgian Grand Prix was a highlight. While Spanish driver Fernando Alonso was leading the championship, he was involved in a pile-up at the first corner involving Hamilton, Grosjean, and Kobayashi. After reviewing the footage, the FIA decided to penalize the French driver, considering that he had cut off Hamilton before the first corner. In Italy, it was therefore the Belgian Jérôme d’Ambrosio who took his place.