Kevin Magnussen’s crew participant defensive techniques have as soon as once more come below fireplace from a number of of his rivals, with Alex Albon accusing the Haas driver of “crossing the road” within the warmth of a good battle between a number of automobiles within the Dutch Grand Prix.
The criticism arose after Magnussen tried – and never for the primary time – to guard his teammate Nico Hulkenberg’s place, resulting in a harmful scenario in response to Albon and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Ranging from the pit lane, Magnussen was used strategically by Haas to carry again a gaggle of quicker automobiles, these of Albon, Gasly and the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, in an effort to assist Hulkenberg.
Because the pack of drivers caught as much as Magnussen, the latter employed aggressive techniques to gradual them down, inflicting a bottleneck into Flip 1.
Albon, specifically, was vocal over the crew radio, describing Magnussen’s techniques as “very harmful.”
It wasn’t the primary time the Haas driver was singled out by his friends, having deployed his defensive driving techniques in Jeddah and in Miami earlier this 12 months, a lot to his rivals’ discontent.
“Kevin’s an unbelievable crew participant and I give him full credit score for it,” commented Albon.
“I don’t assume it will get policed that nicely and there’s a little bit of a gray space between what’s right in backing up a gaggle of automobiles.
“On this case for me it was pretty marginal. There have been some actually fast corners, flip 7, flip 8, the ultimate nook and he was braking in the course of them!
“So that you flip in flat after which it’s a must to slam the brakes and keep away from it.
“That’s, I feel, crossing the road just a little bit. However it’s gray and I feel a part of the difficulty is it’s not likely being policed that always.
“I had the identical scenario in Monaco with Yuki in the course of the race and I used to be complaining however they felt it was okay. The issue is at one level it’s going to be a crash.”
Pierre Gasly echoed Albon’s sentiments, recounting his personal frustrations with Magnussen’s techniques.
“I’ve by no means seen somebody lifting in Flip 14, or placing first gear in Flip 12,” Gasly remarked, highlighting the bizarre driving habits.
“I feel Alex acquired very near him. He locked up mid-corner Flip 12, when [Magnussen] was downshifting in first, when you ought to be nearly full throttle.”
Whereas Albon was clearly pissed off with the dangerous maneuvers, he additionally acknowledged why Magnussen may resort to such techniques.
With the midfield battle being as tight as it’s, each level is essential.
“All of it simply stems from the decrease subject groups,” the Williams driver defined. “That P10, P9 is so worthwhile to us.
“It’s very regular, each crew does it now. One driver has to pay the sacrificial lamb within the race. That’s simply what it’s, that’s what quite a lot of the racing has come to now. It’s a part of it.”
Albon additionally identified that the present factors system, which rewards solely the highest 10 finishers, encourages these determined defensive measures.
“Clearly if the purpose system was a bit completely different and everybody had a bit extra vary, I don’t assume this type of stuff would occur. However that’s the sport,” he stated.
Preserve updated with all of the F1 information by way of Fb and Twitter
