Kevin Magnussen said that his collision with Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap in Spain was where his race effectively ended.
Hamilton, having started P6, found himself under pressure from P8 starter Magnussen on Lap 1 of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Magnussen was looking to send his Haas around the outside of Hamilton’s Mercedes at Turn 4, but the pair would collide, resulting in punctures for both as Magnussen went for a trip into the gravel.
P17 was the extent of Magnussen’s recovery, finishing ahead of only Alex Albon in the Williams.
LAP 1/66
Contact between Magnussen and Hamilton 💥
The Dane runs off into the gravel at Turn 4. The Mercedes driver has damage and limps back to the pits for repairs #SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/7mV0YAbGxF
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2022
Put to him by reporters that the crash must have been frustrating, considering the strong pace which Haas showed in qualifying, Magnussen replied: “Yeah, it is.
“We got hit in Turn 4, had a puncture straight away and that was basically the end of the race.
“So, yeah, onto the next one.”
Once he was back out on the track, Magnussen said the VF-22 felt generally “pretty good”, but he was not helped by the two-stop strategy which he was forced onto as a result of that crash.
Scorching temperatures in Barcelona made for a race of high tyre degradation.
Asked how the Haas was feeling after the collision, Magnussen replied: “Pretty good at most times, I think we were on a tough strategy because of [the] Lap 1 incident, but when the tyres were sort of new, the car was good.”
While Magnussen was unable to deliver any sort of recovery drive, Hamilton, who had wanted to park the Mercedes up after that crash, went on to finish P5.
It would have been P4, but a late “DNF risk” for both Mercedes’ allowed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to retake P4.
When Magnussen was asked if he will chat with Hamilton about their incident, Magnussen replied: “No, it’s pretty clear what happened,…
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