In the second quarter, Magnussen collided with the wall while exiting Speaker’s Corner. Despite the damage to his Haas car, the Danish driver continued to follow the racing line in the subsequent corners, causing significant obstruction to Leclerc.
The driver from Monaco expressed his dissatisfaction over the team radio and requested for Magnussen to face consequences.
After conducting a post-session inquiry, the stewards imposed a three-place grid penalty on Magnussen for the upcoming race on Sunday. They stated that both he and his Haas team should have been more cautious to prevent obstructing the Ferrari.
The stewards stated in their decision that Magnussen went off the track at Turn 9 and collided with the wall. Afterwards, he returned to the track and followed the dry racing line.
Leclerc, who was driving at a high speed, encountered Magnussen who refused to yield until reaching Turn 16.
Magnussen clarified that he believed it was unsafe to swiftly transition onto the wet surface and create space for Leclerc, especially during the turns from 11 to 15.
The Stewards noticed that he was not alerted by his team about Leclerc’s presence until Leclerc was directly behind him at Turn 10. Additionally, the team instructed him to accelerate in order to reach the finish line and have another lap.
“Whether it was his failure to slow and yield following his accident, or whether it was the team’s failure to give information early enough that he could have pulled off earlier, or whether it was the instruction to push through the lap; in any case the Stewards determine that he unnecessarily impeded Leclerc.”
Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-23
Photo by: Alessio Morgese
The penalty drops Magnussen from 13th to 16th on the grid, as the damage sustained in the contact with the wall damaged his car too much to improve on his final lap and advance to Q3.
“When questioned by Motorsport.com, Magnussen explained that during the Turn 9 exit, I collided with the wall, resulting in damage to the car including the rear wing and floor. Consequently, I had to make another attempt, albeit with the impaired vehicle.”
I believe I handled the situation as well as I could, but I should not have been off track, obviously. The car suffered significant damage, and I ended up hitting the tire wall.
After calming down and reflecting on the incident, Leclerc, who started in pole position, demonstrated greater comprehension of the challenging circumstances faced by Magnussen.
He admitted that there is only one dry line and it is extremely challenging to venture beyond the dry line while using slicks.
Under typical circumstances, you would have shifted your position away from the racing path, but in such weather conditions, it is not as simple.
I am unable to reword this text.
Leave a Reply