FIA need to rethink loophole Magnussen keeps exploiting

Another race, another over-the-top defending manouver from Magnussen. In a deja vu from last month's Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, Magnusssen got 4 penalties, totaling 25 seconds at the Miami GP. At first he was driving for the 8th and final points position, but once he was hit with the first penalty, giving him a 10 second punishment, he had nothing to lose as he knew he was out of contention. Since his teammate was the driver in front of him, his race then became about holding up the drivers behind to give Hulkenberg the best chance to hold on to 7th. No problem with that. However, in his push to keep Hamilton behind, he clearly overstepped the boundaries several times and was slapped with penalty again. Twice. Meaning he left the 19 lap short sprint race with 4 penalties. He sabotaged for Hamilton, pushing him and himself out of the track when Hamilton clearly was going to pass in a corner. This lead runner up Tsunoda to pass Hamilton, forcing the brit to chase Tsunoda for the 8th place.

FIA needs to rethink the rules

In its current state, FIA doesn't have the tools necessary to hand out severe enough penalties to prohibit this type of poor driving. With nothing to lose anymore, a driver in Magnussen position can overstep the boundaries in their quest to support a teammate, without sufficient prohibitive repurcussions. This rule loophole obviously applies to all drivers equally, but only Magnussen drives so blatantly over his capabilities while doing so. Compare the driving to Alonso's at the 2021 Hungary GP. Defending, also against Hamilton, Alonso was holding the Mercedes driver behind him for several laps, allowing teammate Stroll to gain a big distance in the meantime. Tough racing for sure, but clean and always within the limits.

What then can the FIA judges do? They clearly need to find a penalty that is more felt and damaging for the driver. For example, points on their license, grid penalty in the next Grand Prix. Harsh, but should still be considered, because it's very damaging for both the driver being pushed off the track and for F1 as a sport. It's blatantly unsportsmanlike conduct that leaves a bad odour.

Magnussen isn't spending much time trying to gain fans or showcase his talent. Ugly, dirty and disappointing. Hopefully Magnussen gets enough heat from this that he thinks twice next time. He did own up to it without trying to make excuses when talking to media afterwards. Something Hamilton seem to have appreciated.