Breaking: Kevin Magnussen escapes grid penalty for unsafe release

Kevin Magnussen no longer has to worry about being docked grid spots after stewards rule out a penalty for unsafe release. Instead, Haas has to pay a fine of €5,000. Magnussen will start from P7.

The Danish driver blocked Sergio Perez from Racing Point during qualifying, when he did not leave his pit box entirely according to protocol. Fortunately, the drivers did not come into contact.

Magnussen pulls out of his box right in front of Pérez. That might be an unsafe release. #AusGP pic.twitter.com/rzKYDZCxus

— Vincent Bruins (@VincentJBruins) 16 maart 2019

Once again the Gene Haas team is in a promising start position at Albert Park, Romain Grosjean will start from sixth place. To prevent a similar failure as in 2018 - both drivers did not finish due to two pit stops where one wheel was not properly secured - the team trained extensively in recent weeks.

No hay penalización para @RacingPointF1 por dejar salir a Perez d manera insegura, pero sí 5000 Euros d multa a @HaasF1Team por hacerlo con Magnussen. pic.twitter.com/11AX7LoX8M

— Albert Fabrega (@AlbertFabrega) 16 March 2019