F1 News: Kevin Magnussen Lashes Out at Sergio Perez – ‘Shouldn’t Have Trusted Him’

At the recent Monaco Grand Prix, a clash between Haas and Red Bull cars led to a first-lap incident that knocked both Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez out of the race. The streets of Monaco, notorious for their narrow and unforgiving turns, became the stage for this dramatic collision, setting off a tense aftermath as the Formula 1 circus moved to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix.

During a candid interview, quoted by Motorsport.com, Kevin Magnussen articulated his frustrations and detailed his perspective on the events that led to the crash.

“I don’t see Checo as a dirty driver or anything, 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,” Magnussen stated. “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. I’ve looked at it many times, 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. 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.”

He cited video evidence and Perez’s evident checks in the mirror just before the crash as key indicators of Perez’s awareness. “You can see his head. You know, he’s seen me – there’s no doubt. I can go and look at his onboard afterward – and I can see that he’s checking his mirror several times,” he remarked.

He continued:

“There is a point of no return and you’re at his mercy. Leading up to that, had full confidence that he had seen me because as soon the as I got that momentum, he went to the right to cover me,” Magnussen explained.

His trust in Perez to leave a car width of space was based on these observations, but as events unfolded, it became clear that this expectation was misplaced.

“If I wasn’t sure that he’s seen me, I would have probably 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,” he reflected.

“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,” he concluded.