MONTREAL – Kevin Magnussen said the FIA’s race directors and stewards are too easily influenced after his Canadian Grand Prix was ruined by what he called “a scratch” on his front wing.
Magnussen went wheel to wheel with Lewis Hamilton on lap one and made light contact, which left a tiny bit of his front wing sticking out.
“I just had a bit of contact, nothing serious,” Magnussen explained after the race. “Scratched my front wing a little bit and then was told to pit.”
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, in the car behind Magnussen, told his team it could be dangerous if the piece came loose and hit his helmet, knowing his message would make it back to the FIA race director and stewards who make all officiating decisions during an F1 event.
A few laps later, race director Eduardo Freitas issued Magnussen the black and orange flag, which denotes a driver must pit for safety reasons.
Magnussen said the decision was a complete overreaction.
“I was talking to Ocon now and he was just joking how he told the FIA that it was really bad,” the Dane told print journalists after his interviews in the TV pen.
“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.”
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
When asked if he will seek clarification from the FIA over the incident, Magnussen suggested there has been a clear change in approach around certain decisions this year. At the last round in Baku, Yuki Tsunoda was issued a black and orange flag for a broken rear wing and in Monaco the start of the race was delayed by rain and problems with the start lights.
“I dunno. Feels suddenly very different. Monaco they don’t start us because it starts drizzling. Here I’m called in because I have a scratch on my front wing.”
It was a disappointing race for Haas, which had promised so much.
Magnussen and Mick Schumacher had started fifth and sixth respectively after the team equalled its best-ever qualifying performance, but neither driver scored a point.
Schumacher’s race ended when his power unit failed on lap 20.