If a driver reaches 12 penalty points on their FIA Super License over a single calendar year period, they are hit with a one-race penalty ban. Last season Kevin Magnussen missed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after accumulating enough penalty points to trigger the one-race ban at the previous race, the Italian Grand Prix.

Just as the race appeared settled after the final round of pit stops — kicked off by Verstappen’s third when he was just a few seconds adrift of Norris — a safety car period intervened, caused by Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes engine expiring smokily.