The duel between Kevin Magnussen and Lewis Hamilton for P8 in the Miami Sprint was intense. Once again the Dane was aggressive beyond regulation to defend himself. His efforts helped teammate Nico Hulkenberg score two precious points for Haas. Despite the sparks on the track, and the penalties inflicted on the Dane, fair play reigns between the two drivers after the race.
MAGNUSSEN: “HULKENBERG COULD HAVE PROTECTED ME”
The race direction punished Magnussen’s conduct with three penalties, which made him slip to the last position in the Sprint finishing order, and the Dane has nothing to complain about in this regard:
“All the penalties were well deserved, there is no it’s doubt. At the start, I was in a very good position behind Nico. I gained a lot of positions and was eighth. I was protected well by Lewis because I had Nico’s DRS, and I had a good pace.”
Despite sacrificing himself for Hulkenberg’s result, Magnussen reserved a jab for his teammate:
“Nico crossed the chicane, and I lost the DRS. He could have countered to protect me. We would have easily been seventh and eighth, but instead, I was really vulnerable towards Lewis.”
MAGNUSSEN: “I USED STUPID TACTICS THAT I DON’T LIKE”
Having lost the help of the mobile wing, Magnussen’s objective became only to block Hamilton as much as possible behind him:
“I started fighting with him like crazy and I had to create the gap with Nico as I had done in Jeddah, using these stupid tactics that I don’t like.
But in the end, I did my job. I’m a team player and Nico got the points because I created that gap for him.
“Lewis and Tsunoda couldn’t catch it. It’s not the way I like to run at all, but it’s what I had to do today .”
HAMILTON: “THIS IS WHAT YOU DO FOR TEAMWORK, WELL DONE”
Hamilton, who in turn was penalized by the race directors for speeding in the pit lane and therefore dropped from eighth place with difficulty achieved to sixteenth, during the race underlined Magnussen’s incorrect manoeuvres via radio, but once he got out of the car, he was very understanding towards the Dane:
“It’s really honest of him. I think he’s really beautiful – He said regarding Magnussen’s confession about him manoeuvring over the limit. We had a good race. It was a little borderline in some places, but that’s what I love. I love competing hard .”
