Coming into the race weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, there was a change to the grid. After amassing 12 penalty points in just a year's time, Kevin Magnussen was handed a race ban for the race in Baku, meaning Oliver Bearman replaced the Dane. After his ten-second penalty and two penalty points at the Italian Grand Prix last time out which led to his ban, many drivers deemed it to be unfair on Magnussen. However, Jacques Villeneuve strongly disagrees.