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Magnussen: I won't be any less friendly on-track

Published on 03 Mar 2018 11:25
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By: Fergal Walsh

Kevin Magnussen says that he will not be any friendlier on the race track this year after getting complaints from fellow drivers in 2017. In two noticeable incidents, Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso criticised the aggressiveness of the Dane's driving.

Magnussen is heading into his fourth year in Formula 1, his second with Haas. Having built up a 'bad boy' reputation throughout the 2017 season, Magnussen says that he is keen to avoid any penalties - but he will not change his driving style.

"I look at it like this," he told BT newspaper. "If I get a penalty, then I've made a mistake. But I only got one penalty last year so I need to learn from that. So this year, I'm going to try to drive just as hard without getting any penalties. That doesn't mean I'm going to be any more friendly on the track. I hope to be even harder, just without any penalty."

Having joined the grid in 2014 with McLaren, Magnussen was forced to step aside for 2015 when Alonso joined the team. After a year at Renault in 2016, he moved to Haas last year and will now head into his second season with the American squad.

And he admits he is happy at the team and would is keen to remain there beyond 2018: "I'm happy to be here with Haas, and my starting point is that I want to stay," he said. "Therefore, I do not have much stress. Of course it would always be nice to be notified as early as possible."

Fergal Walsh

boudy

Posts: 1,168

When you drive for a team like Haas you must fight for every point KMAG will give you that. Grosjean I would like to see replaced with an more positive driver. His moaning about the car is interesting in that it's him that sets the car up so he only has himself to blame for his setup issues. I t... [Read more]

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Mar 3 2018 - 17:03

F1 News Fernando Alonso Kevin Magnussen McLaren Renault

Replies (6)

Barron

Posts: 625
I kind of like Kevin’s attitude here. It’s similar to that which drove Senna & Schumacher but Kevin is not as cynical as they were. I’m not sure I would have signalled my intentions though. I hope he has a good season, after-all, he’s worked for it and paid his dues.
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- Mar 3 2018 - 12:04
- Barron
  
  Posts: 625
  I meant to add, I also like Haas driver line-up, in terms of personality skill & agression. I think they are well matched and have potentially got a lot more to offer. I never thought that Grosjean’s talent was fully exploited..
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  Mar 3 2018 - 12:07
- boudy
  
  Posts: 1,168
  When you drive for a team like Haas you must fight for every point KMAG will give you that. Grosjean I would like to see replaced with an more positive driver. His moaning about the car is interesting in that it's him that sets the car up so he only has himself to blame for his setup issues. I think that Grosjean lack of results is his own fault more than anyone else.
  + 2
  
  Mar 3 2018 - 17:03
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I think Grosjean is good, but he isnt as good as he says he is, and as Boudy here says, I find his constant moaning and blaming others to be very tiring. Likewise, I dont necessarily find KMags increased aggressivity to be a positive. There is Aggressive as in pushing hard, and there is aggressive as in pushing harder than whats called for and pushing others off the track. None of us liked it when Maldonado did it, so I find it fair to pick a bit even on a driver I like when he does a similar (albeit nowhere as frequent) thing.
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  Mar 3 2018 - 17:14
- Barron
  
  Posts: 625
  In terms of “aggression” I think what worries me here is that a lot of the rest of the field have gone into “procession mode” and just race a series of test-style laps. Kevin’s “aggression” may break this mould and as long as he doesn’t play dirty, then I think there’s room for it.
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  Mar 5 2018 - 11:00
ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
I get why he's saying this, but the reality is that not every mistake that ruins your race, or significantly damages the result warrants a penalty. It's true that most of his incidents were deemed to be 'racing incidents,' but they were incidents nevertheless and they were usually his fault. More importantly, that reputation will keep him from getting another seat in F1. Especially if Grosjean keep outperforming him. It's hard to believe he was one time a McLaren protégé.
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- Mar 5 2018 - 18:13