‘I didn’t even feel it’ says Magnussen of dramatic race-ending crash in Melbourne

Haas’s Kevin Magnussen clattered the barriers and lost a tyre six laps from the end of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix – but, according to the Dane, the impact didn’t feel that significant.

Magnussen hit the barriers outside Turn 2 on Lap 54 and brought out a Safety Car, which turned into a red flag that led to an accident-filled standing start. The Haas driver was running 12th when his race ended with a seemingly innocuous tap with the wall.

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“I didn’t even feel it, so it definitely wasn’t something that felt big in the car,” said Magnussen. “But it was enough to crack the rim and take the tyre off. Unfortunate – we were in P12, so at the time it didn’t look like we would be able to score points.

“So, not my day, and it seemed like again, the car seemed to have decent pace so I’m encouraged by that, and we’ll push next time,” he said.

Magnussen also lamented the timing of the first red flag, which was brought out for Alex Albon’s high-speed crash at Turn 7. A number of drivers, including Mercedes’ then-leader George Russell, pitted before the red flag and lost out on the chance of a ‘free’ pit stop during the pause.

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“I think we got unlucky with the red flag because we’d just pitted out of P11 and we seemed to be quicker than the next couple of cars so I was fairly confident at that stage of the race, and then we pitted under the Safety Car… and then that turned into a red flag and then everybody put their tyres on... to [go] the end. So I was last,” said the Haas driver.

Despite his perceived misfortune, Haas ended up scoring points in Australia with Nico Hulkenberg classified P7 after Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz copped a five-second penalty on the chaotic standing restart at Albert Park.