Father defends Magnussen over illegal radio penalty

Jan Magnussen criticizes rule

(GMM) Kevin Magnussen's father has leapt to his defense after the Haas driver was penalized for receiving illegal radio instructions in Hungary.

Dane Magnussen's was one of the most impressive drives last Sunday as he finished P9 thanks to an inspired strategy.

But he dropped to P10 when stewards ruled that both he and teammate Romain Grosjean had illegally received instructions to pit after the formation lap for dry tires.

"Punished for a stroke of genius," the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet declared.

However, former Le Mans winner John Nielsen told BT newspaper that the FIA penalty was "completely normal".

"The team knew full well that they couldn't say what they said," he added. "If they wanted to do it they should have talked about it beforehand."

But Magnussen's father, former F1 driver Jan Magnussen, disagrees.

"It is not a fair punishment," he said. "In my eyes they broke no rules.

"I know that it is a rule that was introduced, but a strategy call should always be free," Magnussen snr, 47, added.

"I don't think it was the intention of the rule to attack something like this. It's super sad, because Kevin deserved every single point he earned in that race.

"I know Kevin is good, but I'm so impressed with how he handled it."