Kevin Magnussen’s Haas VF-24 wrecked.
The fact that a huge shunt involving Kevin Magnussen, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg in Monaco happened on the first lap is what saved Magnussen from a race ban, claims 13-time race winner David Coulthard.
Perez’s Red Bull suffered significant damage when Magnussen’s Haas made contact with it on the first lap of the Monaco GP. This collision occurred on the uphill section after Sainte Devote, resulting in both Magnussen’s Haas teammate, Hulkenberg, and Perez’s Red Bull being forced to retire from the race. As a result, it was a triple DNF for the three drivers involved in the incident.
Kevin Magnussen lucky Monaco incident was on first lap?
Magnussen was left anxiously waiting after the incident, as he was only two penalty points away from receiving a one-race suspension. However, the stewards concluded that no additional measures were required.
Given the situation, Coulthard believes that Magnussen should have retreated from that maneuver. However, he ended up causing the collision by persistently maintaining his position.
Coulthard commented on the Channel 4 incident, stating that considering Kevin Magnussen’s prior driving infractions, it was reasonable to attempt to make a move. However, at that moment, it would have been wise to retreat, as it was evident that the path ahead was far from straightforward.
“After establishing contact, there is a tremendous initial energy crash in a grand prix race, with the car being burdened by a substantial amount of fuel.”
Perez glances at himself in the mirror, only to be caught off guard when he looks ahead again and the impact occurs.
“The stewards have classified it as a racing incident, however, the accident occurred because Magnussen intruded by attempting to outmaneuver up the incline and on the outer side of a non-linear track. The likelihood of successfully overtaking under these circumstances was extremely low.”
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Coulthard was then questioned about whether he believed that the collision on Lap 1 had any impact on the stewards’ decision to not take any further action.
Coulthard confidently believed that if the incident had taken place on any lap other than the first in Monaco, then Magnussen would have faced a temporary suspension from Formula 1.
Coulthard confirmed that it was indeed the first lap when asked if this was the reason for it being considered a racing incident.
“If that incident had occurred with any other driver in the Grand Prix, I believe Magnussen would have been facing a temporary suspension from Formula 1.”
Magnussen is fighting hard to secure his position at Haas, as the team is already in search of a new driver for F1 2025 due to Hulkenberg’s imminent move to Sauber.
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