Guenther Steiner proposed that implementing drive-through penalties for repeat offenders could discourage the behavior for which Kevin Magnussen was criticized at the Miami Grand Prix. During the Sprint race in Miami, Magnussen received 35 seconds of penalties for his “unsportsmanlike” driving while competing against Lewis Hamilton. Magnussen acknowledged that his penalties were justified and explained that he used these tactics to protect his Haas teammate Nico Hulkenberg’s position. However, Magnussen’s actions resulted in another collision with Logan Sargeant during the grand prix, accumulating 10 penalty points and bringing him closer to a race ban. Steiner, who was previously the Haas team principal, believes that Magnussen crossed the line with his controversial driving at the Miami International Autodrome. He emphasized the importance of fair play and stated that a driver should not take pride in ruining someone else’s race. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also expressed his opinion, stating that Magnussen is fortunate to have avoided a ban. The Miami stewards cleared Magnussen of unsportsmanlike conduct but recommended that the FIA tighten its regulations for repeat offenders. Steiner suggests that drive-through penalties be imposed on drivers for their second infractions in the same race to prevent them from causing further issues. He argues that once a driver receives the initial penalty, additional penalties of the same nature become insignificant, while a drive-through penalty would have a more noticeable impact as the driver would have to serve it in a few laps and then could no longer disrupt the race.
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