Formula One: Magnussen apologises to Gasly, clarifies 'die in car' remarks

Kevin Magnussen has revealed he apologised many times to Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly after the two drivers touched wheels at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Magnussen took to Twitter on Wednesday night to clarify comments he made in the build up to the Baku street race on Sunday.

While describing his commitment to racing, the Haas driver told Reuters ahead of the grand prix: "I don't like compromises. I will give everything. I will die in the car. I won't hold back.

"I would put my life on [the line]. Absolutely. When you put your helmet on and you're in the race, I find that's just everything there is in the world. I love my family, and there's so many things in life I enjoy, but when I'm in the car there's nothing else that means anything.

"For me, when I get in the car, the essential of life is Formula One."

The quotes were subsequently published elsewhere following the collision with Gasly and Magnussen felt it was important to distance those comments from Sunday's incident.

"The interview was done before the race in Baku and is not minded on the incident with Pierre in the race," he wrote on Twitter. "I didn't squeeze Pierre on purpose and have apologised to him many times after the incident.

"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 accidents or getting penalties but finishing races in as high a position as possible.

"I am living my childhood dream of racing in Formula One 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."

Following Sunday's collision, which saw the Dane squeeze Gasly towards the wall at over 300km/h before the pair touched wheels, the Toro Rosso driver labelled Magnussen as the "most dangerous" driver he has raced against. Magnussen -- who was hit with a 10-second penalty from the stewards and two penalty points on his licence -- later explained that he was struggling with visibility in his mirrors.

"I had so many vibrations in the car that the mirrors were useless, I couldn't see anything at all," he said. "It was pretty early -- apparently already Turn 19 -- that he was alongside me. Naturally it's too bad it happened. I knew it would be very hard to keep them behind me after that Safety Car. When the wheels locked, there wasn't much I could do about it."



ESPN

Related News

500
Leave a comment...