Kevin Magnussen remains adamant that Sergio Perez tried to intimidate him during their costly crash at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The incident, which occurred on the opening lap, saw Magnussen attempting to overtake Perez around the outside as the track kinked left after Ste. Devote. The two touched, leading to a heavy crash that brought out the red flag. Despite Magnussen being largely blamed for the crash, he insists Perez saw him and purposely pushed him towards the wall to make him back down.
According to Magnussen, he trusted Perez to leave him enough space given that he was in plain sight. “I don’t see Checo as a dirty driver or anything,” the Haas driver said in Montreal. “But I was surprised that he didn’t leave me the room. Clearly, he was just pushing me to the wall to intimidate me and have me back out. But I don’t think… that’s certainly not the way we should be racing.”
The crash was detrimental not only to Magnussen but also to Red Bull, with damages to Perez’s RB20 estimated to be between two to three million dollars. The accident also involved Nico Hulkenberg, Magnussen’s team-mate, adding to the chaos on the track. Stewards ruled the incident as a racing incident, but pundits argue that Magnussen was fortunate to escape without more severe penalties, especially given he’s only two points away from a race ban.
Magnussen stands firm on his perspective after reviewing multiple replays of the crash. “I’ve looked at it many times,” he said. “It’s always one thing right when it happens, but your view often changes when you see it from the outside. But in this case, it didn’t change so much. He had seen me, and I knew he had seen me.”
Magnussen’s future in Formula 1 remains uncertain as his contract with Haas is up at the end of this season. With talks of Oliver Bearman potentially taking his seat in 2025 and the possibility of drivers like Esteban Ocon or Pierre Gasly joining Haas, his situation looks precarious. However, Magnussen remains hopeful. “The team knows me very well, I’m a known quantity to the team. So I don’t think there’s anything for me to prove,” he said. “I’ve made it clear that I would love to continue here.”
As the Formula 1 world speculates on Magnussen’s future, the crash with Perez remains a hot topic. Whether Magnussen stays with Haas or not, his stance on the Monaco incident shows he’s not backing down from his version of events.
Source: Planetf1
