It was the big bang at the start of an otherwise very boring 2024 Monaco GP: Kevin Magnussen wanted to attack Sergio Perez at the start on the way up to the casino, but it ended in a major accident. Magnussen’s Haas teammate Nico Hülkenberg also fell victim to this. The majority of observers blamed the Dane’s overly optimistic attack, even though the stewards did not impose a penalty, much to Red Bull’s annoyance. Magnussen had already defended himself against this view in Monaco. How does he see it almost two weeks later with a little distance?
No apology from Magnussen for Monaco accident: He saw me!
Before the Canadian GP, the ‘bad boy’ of Formula 1 was of course asked about the incident again. “I didn’t want it to happen. It was costly and unnecessary for the team,” explained the Haas driver. And not just for his own team, with two damaged cars. The accident also tore a huge hole in Red Bull’s war chest for the World Championship battle.
So did the apology come on Thursday in Montreal? Not at all: “Of course I’ve looked at it many times. It’s always just a matter of when it’s happened. Your perspective often changes when you see it from the outside. But in this case, not much has changed.” Instead, Magnussen even attacked his accident opponent Perez, who has just extended his contract with Red Bull by two years.
“He had seen me, I know that. It’s one thing if you’re not sure whether he saw you. Then the risk is of course big. If I hadn’t been sure that he had seen me, I would probably have backed off. But it was very clear to me that he had seen me. So I thought he would leave a car’s width of space. I trusted him to do that,” the 31-year-old justified.
Magnussen: Shouldn’t have trusted Perez!
But that didn’t happen. “In retrospect, I shouldn’t have trusted him. But that doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t leave enough space for a car,” explained Magnussen, adding: “With my experience, I should have known that certain drivers don’t always leave enough space.” But he didn’t want to leave this as a general statement about the Mexican: “I see Checo [Perez] I didn’t see him as a dirty driver, but I was surprised that he didn’t give me a seat.”
From Magnussen’s point of view, Perez should have left room. The moment he decided to attack, it was too late for the Haas to react: “There comes a point where you are too close to the wall. If his right rear wheel goes over, you are trapped. He will hit your front tyre with his rear tyre. So there is a point of no return and you are at his mercy.”
But according to Magnussen, it should not have come to this point: “He pushed me against the wall to intimidate me into pulling back. That should not be the way we race.” Whether you share this view or not, one thing is clear: without any prospect of points, two teams were saddled with huge crash costs. “With both cars starting from the very back, it would not have been a good day for us either way,” the Dane had to admit. But it was expensive, very expensive.
What do you think of Kevin Magnussen’s point of view? Should Perez have given him space? Tell us in the comments!