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Massa and Magnussen under investigation after qualifying

Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen are both under investigation for being too slow returning to the pits during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The FIA sets a maximum permitted time between the Safety Car lines at the pit exit and pit entry to ensure drivers are not too slow when not on a flying lap. At Suzuka the FIA stated the maximum permitted time between the two Safety Car lines is 1.57.0s, but both Massa and Magnussen appear to have exceeded that time.

AS IT HAPPENED: Japanese Grand Prix - Qualifying

Magnussen's indiscretion relates to the end of Q1, with the Renault driver eliminated in 18th place after a small mistake in the final chicane. For Massa, his incident occurred on his in lap at the end of Q2 having been knocked out in 12th position, one spot behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Both drivers have been summoned to the stewards at Suzuka to discuss the respective incidents before any potential sanctions will be handed out.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.