Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Baku City Circuit, 2018

Magnussen “apologised many times” to Gasly over Baku clash

2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Kevin Magnussen said he has apologised several times to Pierre Gasly for their clash in the closing stages of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He also responded to reports which quoted him saying he was “prepared to die” in a racing car.

Gasly described Magnussen as “the most dangerous guy I’ve ever raced against” following their collision during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Magnussen said in a post on social media he “didn’t squeeze Pierre on purpose and have apologised to him many times after the incident.”

He made his comments in response to articles which appeared after the race which quoted him saying “I don’t like compromises. I will give everything. I will die in the car. I won’t hold back.”

Magnussen made the comments in an interview published by Reuters last Friday, although the timing of his remarks was not explained in all of the subsequent reports.

“The interview was done before the race in Baku and is not minded on the incident with Pierre in the race,” Magnussen pointed out.

“I don’t want to die in a race car. I was expressing my willingness to give absolutely everything in my power to achieve success. Success to me obviously isn’t having accident or getting penalties but finishing races in as high a position as possible.”

Magnussen added he is “living my childhood dream of racing in Formula 1 and I’ve put my whole life into achieving that dream so it is only natural for me to be giving absolutely everything I’ve got to achieve success in racing and the day I no longer do that I will retire from racing immediately.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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24 comments on “Magnussen “apologised many times” to Gasly over Baku clash”

  1. I wonder if it was a Hulkenberg style apology…

    1. Justin (@boombazookajd)
      2nd May 2018, 23:51

      “Suck my ****, honey” and “Sometimes you just have to lick the stamp and send it” are without a doubt, my two favorite F1 quotes of all time.

    2. Hulkenberg was/is just a dramaqueen and got the response he deserved in the situation.

      Let’s wait until Gasly make a mistake, where another driver crash or left in danger. It will happen this year, if Gasly scores anymore points.

  2. It’s a bit of back-peddling isn’t it? Really? As he said he wants to race on the limit of death, it’s obviously his style not to have any fear of incident. It’s no co-incidence that this attitude will result in a more aggressive on-track approach.

    I’m not sure I entirely dissagree with one of the comments on the crash article:

    F1 what a dork you should be rally car racing if you like the edge and real danger F1 has none of this!

    If the danger and thrill of pushing on that knifes edge of death is really what motivates him, maybe he should be looking at rally? At least then it’s only the person who decides to get in the car with him, not another driver on the track…

    1. lars (@renaultfm1)
      3rd May 2018, 0:39

      Tristan (@skipgamer) We all know what he really meant but fanboys for other drives got the chance to misinterpretation..look at each of the other drivers and you tell me that they not drive to the edge. And by that they ALL been had inccidents like the one last Sunday. What you expect? Maybe all who not get it should sign up for Sunday school instead. He got punished so move on…

    2. It’s just an article taken woefully out of context.

      You’re right about the attitude though, like I said on a similar comment about Magnussen and Verstappen earlier, their driving approach is a result of their personality. Verstappen has been pretty vocal about his aggressiveness as well, and neither of them will change it any time soon. Their approach, like the approach of “low risk” drivers like Bottas or Button, has its supporters and its detractors. F1 attracts drivers with different on-track personalities, and often it is too late for them, or anyone else, to modify their behaviour. You want all drivers to have a calculated risk-taking approach like Ricciardo or Hamilton? Get to them while they’re still karting, like at a national level or something.

      F1 what a dork you should be rally car racing if you like the edge and real danger F1 has none of this!

      I doubt Magnussen would take advice from an angry internet guy on Crash. But anyway, all motorsports offer a different thrill and have half a dozen ways to kill a driver. I’m sure his appetite is satiated by F1 itself.

      1. Aaditya (@neutronstar)
        3rd May 2018, 2:55

        @sundark The problem with Magnussen is that the “risks” he takes are often over the limit, and he gets duly penalized, while Max on the other gets penalized less because he has better control over his aggression (with a few exceptions, of course) and more often than not, seems to have the hang of the acceptable limit (at least as specified by the rules) to which he can take it.

        In short, Magnussen is a very messy and error-prone driver in that regard and while his attitude may certainly find supporters, I don’t see how his driving style can, given that Max has been able to transfer a similar attitude to his driving in a far more successful (albeit still somewhat error-prone) manner.

        1. Peter Jensen
          3rd May 2018, 10:52

          Mag did appologise to the guy. The incident was not on purspose, similar when MAS did exactly this last year on a night track, also topspeed, only MAS sceaming MAG tocushed his wheels, same time as MAG wheels was at the wall…Where to go like Gasly?
          Did MAG complain over MAS?, Did he go to Whiting? Did MAS get points?, and where it less dangerous than this one?
          Point are given different throughout, and wheel to wheel to wall cannot being regarded as a safe zone, but it matters who are inside or who is outside, I’m afraid. And this is where the “smartness” in screaming comes in, since repeating anything do help sometime, like vawing to the referee.
          MAG used to get a lot of points where no one else didn’t, now seems less an issue that before it was even worse, (this incident points = ok)
          If current drivers with a little less points than mag´s 7 would get point for dangeruos driving when hitting teamates, some other drivers would top the list, but for some reason its not considered dangeruos when cars have the same color. Like 2 of MAG points are for overtaking too early (0,5m), even he gave position back next corner due to the mistake….
          I see this as the yellow card trend often seen in football, only here you scream in radio.
          If Gasly only worried about safety issue, I´m sure he went to whiting over the blue car parking in the middle of the road i Q?. This was not dangerous…?…ohh same color, = not dangerous….:) MAG has 1 point of incidential blocking on his cool down, only no danger, and he also appologized that one as well..
          Same color, no point?
          So tell me why did MAX not get points any of times he took out RIC, the dual move guidance under braking has been put there due to safety?
          What would be your guess on the points if MAG have made the MAX move to RIC, or the OCO on RAI?

        2. Peter Jensen
          3rd May 2018, 11:06

          I like MAX driving a lot, but the stats on MAX driving lately are even worse than KVYAT which he replaed due to that.
          Remeber how much Kvyat got beaten on the first lap incidents with vet, whereas MAX´s move on Vet was in full control, no traffic, faster car.. This was due to the yellow card effect, less is accepted and sofawarriors can repat what their own mind is working out so often its impacting actions upon same baselevel issue.
          MAG rarely take out other cars, rarely chrash and dint put a foot wrong so far this season, until this Gasly incident, to which he appologized.
          MAG would not have gone away with going over the gras into RIC last year, or the Dual brake move this time, and I think its difficult to really judge the drivers when not in same car, since the RB seems to be very driveable, and nobody knows how the other chassis are responding in traffic or bumps or just about anything.

          1. Peter, you are right when you say that Max has been poor in wheel to wheel racing this year, but I was talking more about his general record. Like Magnussen, Max rarely crashes into other drivers, with the incident with Vettel being one of his very few serious crashes, and the point is that he did get penalized for that.

            My point was about hard racing, and how both drivers treat the same thing with so much difference. Magnussen has not caused crashes, but ever since his debut, he has been penalized quite a few times for his wheel-to-wheel racing antics. Max is often very close to the limit of acceptable racing but I have rarely seen him overstep it with as much blatant obviousness as Magnussen, especially when it comes to the previous season (Magnussen’s multiple incidents with Hulkenberg, Perez and Alonso). Max gets away with his antics because even when his driving is unfair, it is close enough to the rules to put the stewards in doubt. He has never been responsible for (clearly) pushing fellow drivers into walls/grass/gravel, like Magnussen has and that also makes the latter’s antics seem more dangerous than Max’s in general.

            And as much as I hate to say it, I do believe a lot of the hate towards Magnussen has to do with whether he has the credentials or the “right” to race as hard as he does…and Hulkenberg’s “wannabe Verstappen” remark comes to mind. Magnussen hasn’t been hot property since his podium on debut four years ago, and in his time together with Grosjean, has looked about equal to him in overall pace. In other words, he is not rated very highly at the moment and in the past year or so has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, thus making him the current bad boy of Formula 1. Max tends to make headlines for the good (sometimes spectacular) reasons as well, and thus the drivers’ views on him are a lot more mixed.

            In short, from the perspective of fellow drivers and fans like me, Max has shown that he has the talent, the speed and the consistency to somewhat back up his arrogance on track, while Magnussen hasn’t and thus his “hard” racing seems less justified and more annoying. The latter’s current situation is similar to what Maldonado’s was, in my opinion, where even the tiniest infraction on his part gets deeply frowned upon.

  3. Guys want the respect given to Senna without paying the Senna-price.

    1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
      3rd May 2018, 3:53

      Agree. Also, as great as Senna was, I feel he got himself free of criticism for, as you said, having paid the ultimate price. I mean, the way he took out Prost in Suzuka, even if the circumstances made him feel rightful to do it, would have meant a disqualification from the championship, as Schumacher got when he did that to Villeneuve. And seeing how Vettel was bashed (rightfully) for his attitude in Baku last year, I feel that if Senna had done that move on Prost nowadays, he would have lost all his glorious status instantly, with only tinfoil hat fans defending what he did.
      It’s especially serious that in those years, F1 was not as safe as it is now, so it’s not an exaggeration to say that Prost could have been seriously injured as a consequence.

      1. I think one of the key differences being that we now all have a platform and a voice, for better or for worse.

      2. I agree with a quote from David Hobbs when asked who was better, Senna or Prost.
        Senna was the quicker of the two, but his ruthlessness bordered on unbalanced. After running into Prost in 1990 for the second time, he probably should have been banned from racing.

  4. Good to know that he’s apologized to Gasly for the incident.

    1. He is a adult and not a Diva (Fernando Alonso) or a cry baby like many F1 drivers these days.

      1. Biased much?

        1. Perhaps a little bit old enough to remember the old days when you took the discussion with the fists behind the garage, then it is no longer and you give your hand afterwards.

          F1 drivers today are so much more dramaqueens and cry babies …. so close to throwing up. As you can see, it means more what eyeliner or lip gloss you use – and for God’s sake, NO dirty spot on running the suits or blemishes under your nails.

          Yes, I’m really mad with KMag and his personality and his driving style. KMag is what F1 needs – F1 is a men’s sport and not for cry babies …. or so it should be.

          Due to KMag I started to look a little F1 again. Went a long time ago, away from F1 and their dramaqueens to rally sports.

  5. Deep down, we all love you Kevin

  6. To many drivers whine and whine. Go hard or go home. Don´t run up to your daddy (Whiting) and cry like a baby.
    Like soccerplayers always pretend to be hurt, F1 pilots are little princesses. Well most of them.
    Magnussen, Raikkonnen and a few others are MEN not crybabies.

    1. Magnussen is fast, but sloppy on close battles, often overly aggressive. Kimi is just a perpetually depressed #2 driver a..hole. Although I must admit he seems to have found some speed this year. He’s still a perpetually depressed a—hole though.

      I agree many drivers complain too much, but what Magnussen did was unacceptable and that’s why he has apologized multiple times. Fair play to Magnussen for making a mistake, apologizing and now we all move on.

  7. I am extremely biased, being a Dane myself. A country of only 6 million people, having a countrymen in an F1 car is spectacular and against many odds. That said, i think the apology is needed and deserved, so is the points on kmags license for this incident. The only defence/explanation i have seen from mag, is the sidemirrors on his haas being rather useless due to the ericsson incident. Video shows this, try to compare with the mirrors on Gaslys ToroRosso, and you’ll see. Nevetheless, it is not an excuse for Squeezing Gasly against the wall and he should’t make a defensive move like that if bad vision prevented him from judging speed or doing it ‘save’. Should he even have quit the race himself due to bad mirrors? If mirrors are mandatory, what about the usefullness of them. Can’t tell if it is just a bad excuse

  8. MAG is a true racer – a real man with big balls..

    He never complains and is on his way up right now – releasing all those crybabys out there: GAS, ALO, VET, HUL – just to mention some..
    Think this boy is committed and will end up between the big six some day.
    But right now he needs to fight for every single midfield points which put him the stormcenter for trouble.. let him have a quicker car and he wont have to take those chances….
    Remenber Gene and Steiner love him for his fight for the team..

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