Magnussen says FIA too easily influenced after Ocon radio call

The Haas driver clashed with Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap of Sunday’s race as they battled over fourth place. The contact caused damage to Magnussen’s front wing and he was instructed to pit for repairs shortly afterwards. 

A black-and-orange flag is shown to a driver when their car has been summoned to the pits due to a serious mechanical problem or loose bodywork that presents a risk to other competitors. 

Esteban Ocon, who was running behind Magnussen at the time, radioed in to his Alpine team to raise safety concerns about the damaged Haas, knowing it would draw the attention of race control. 

Magnussen is carrying damage to his front wing after an opening lap skirmish with Hamilton#CanadianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/NiY6FutxcB

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 19, 2022

Following the race, Magnussen revealed Ocon had joked he intentionally made out that the damage was bad in an attempt to get the Dane in trouble. 

"I was talking to Ocon now and he was just joking how he told the FIA that it was really bad," said Magnussen. 

"If you know you can influence the FIA like that, you're going to do it, aren't you? Which is what he did. Fair play.

"But you've gotta let us drive with that s***, it's nothing. I was keeping up, the car was fine. The front wing was safe, it was not broken off.

"Think back to Jeddah last year, Lewis Hamilton won the race without half a front wing... which I think is correct, you know. Let us race if we can.”

Asked if he would talk to the FIA about the incident, Magnussen replied: "I don’t know. Feels suddenly very different. 

“In Monaco they don’t start us because it starts drizzling. Here I’m called in because I have a scratch on my front wing.” 

Nightmare race for Haas 

The race started with much promise but ultimately ended in disappointment after both Magnussen and teammate Mick Schumacher failed to score a single point between them.

Magnussen and Schumacher had lined up from fifth and sixth after the team equalled their best-ever qualifying performance by locking out the third row of the grid in wet conditions on Saturday. 

But the American outfit came away with zero points after Magnussen dropped out of the top 10 following his forced pit stop and was unable to recover. 

Meanwhile, Schumacher’s wait for his first-ever F1 points finish continues after the German retired on Lap 19 with a power unit issue. 

“Not what we wanted today,” said Haas team principal Guenther Steiner. “Kevin’s race was over when he had to change front wing. 

“Mick was fighting really hard and was getting into the groove but something on the PU let go and that was his day done. 

“Obviously, when you’re dead last it’s just very hard to recover, so we ended up where we ended up.”