MIAMI, May 5 — Kevin Magnussen said he had to resort to ‘stupid tactics’ as he collected three time penalties in helping Haas team mate Nico Hulkenberg score precious points in Saturday’s Miami Formula One sprint race.
The Dane had 25 seconds added to his time and ended up 18th and last on track after holding up Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in a battle for eighth and the final point.
Stewards were not impressed with Magnussen’s antics or his explanation and have summoned him and team representative to a meeting over “alleged unsportsmanlike behaviour”.
“All the penalties were well deserved, no doubt about it,” Magnussen told Sky Sports television. “But I had to play the game again.
“In the beginning of the race I gained a lot of positions and was up in P8, protecting well from Lewis because I had DRS (drag reduction) from Nico (in seventh) and I had good pace I felt.
“Then Nico cut the chicane and I lost the DRS and Nico could have given that back to give me the DRS to protect because then we would have easily been P7 and P8,” he added.
“Instead I was really vulnerable to Lewis...I had to just create the gap like I did in Jeddah and start using these stupid tactics which I don’t like doing but at the end of the day I did my job as a team player and Nico scored his points because I got that gap for him.”
For his part Hamilton accepted Magnussen’s explanation and wrote the incident off as hard racing.
“We had a good race. A little bit on the edge, but it’s what I love,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “I love racing hard.
“I wasn’t frustrated or anything. That’s what you do to work as a team.”
In Saudi Arabia in March Magnussen collected two 10 second penalties before holding off drivers behind him to create a big enough gap for Hulkenberg in front to pit and secure the team’s first point of the campaign.
US-owned Haas, 10th and last overall in 2023, are seventh in the standings with seven points from six race weekends so far. Hulkenberg, who is joining Sauber at the end of the year, has scored six of those points. — Reuters
