'Shouldn’t have trusted him’ - Kevin Magnussen still at odds with Sergio Perez over crash
Kevin Magnussen stands by his original view of his first-lap accident with Sergio Perez in Monaco.
Kevin Magnussen still feels Sergio Perez could have done more to avoid their first-lap crash at the F1 Monaco Grand Prix.
The pair came together as Magnussen tried to put his Haas up the inside of Perez’s Red Bull heading up the hill on the opening lap. Perez was sent spearing into the barriers and collected Magnussen’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg in the ensuing chaos, which resulted in the race being suspended.
Perez and Magnussen pointed the finger at each other for the incident and the latter is convinced the Mexican was not completely innocent.
“I don't see Checo as a dirty driver or anything,” Magnussen said ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. “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 that's certainly not the way we should be racing.
“He can't argue that he didn't see me. He saw me. There's no way around it. He did see me. So yeah, that is the reason I kept it flat, because I trusted that he would leave me the space since he'd seen me.
“He had seen me, and I knew he had seen me. It’s one thing if you're not sure he's seen you, then I perceive the risk as being bigger.
“If I wasn't sure that he's seen me, I probably would have just backed off. But it was very clear to me that he had seen me. So, I thought okay, he's going to leave a car width. I trusted that he was going to do that. In hindsight, I shouldn't have trusted him.
“But that doesn't change the fact that he didn't leave a car width. Maybe with my experience, I should have known that certain drivers don't always leave a car width. There is always a risk that they won’t.”
And having had the opportunity to review the incident on replays, Magnussen stands by his original view.
“I've looked at it many times,” the Dane added. “It's always one thing right when it happens, but your view of what happens often changes when you see it from the outside. But in this case, it didn't change so much.”
