Haas challenges Magnussen’s Chinese Grand Prix penalty
Haas team manager Ayao Komatsu believes that the penalty imposed on Kevin Magnussen at the Chinese Grand Prix was not "justifiable".
Kevin Magnussen was penalized for hitting Yuki Tsunoda’s Racing Bulls during the restart of the race after the first safety car period. As they exited Turn 6, Magnussen appeared to experience oversteer and hit the rear right tire of Tsunoda’s car, spinning the Japanese driver.
The damage caused forced him to immediately abandon the race while Magnussen managed to continue. The stewards judged that Magnussen was primarily responsible for the accident and imposed a 10-second penalty on him.
Ayao Komatsu believes that the penalty was too severe. « I don’t think this is justifiable. I think it’s just a racing incident. He didn’t push Tsunoda off the track. He slipped inside Turn 6, made contact with the apex, Tsunoda was far away, he still left him room, Tsunoda came back gradually »,” said the Japanese boss to Autosport.
« Kevin doesn’t leave the track, so maybe the definition of ‘revenir’ could be wrong. But it’s not like Kevin is entirely responsible. For me, it’s at least 50/50. If there’s anything, I think it’s more Tsunoda’s fault. Honestly, he didn’t turn towards Tsunoda or anything. He slipped inside, touched the apex, had oversteer, but it didn’t change the direction of the car. »
Translate: « He still has space. So why is it a penalty? » Ayao Komatsu declared that although the penalty is not appealable, the team would ask for explanations from the race direction because he did not agree with the decision.
Kevin Magnussen, who finished the race in 16th place after his penalty, believes he couldn’t have done anything differently to avoid the incident. « I don’t know. It seemed to me that he was going very wide. And then he still managed to get out of it. And I was a bit stuck in my rotation. I couldn’t really do more. But they judged it was a penalty for me. So that’s how it is. I think I did what I could. When we collided, there was the width of a car [on the outside]. »
« So I think we simply misunderstood each other, I suppose. I have to review that. But for me, it could have very well been a racing incident.
