During the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix qualification, Kevin Magnussen impeded Charles Leclerc for which he got penalized. Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time Magnussen blocked Leclerc out on the track. 5 years ago in 2018, the Danish driver came directly in the way of the Monegasque, which forced the latter to label the former as invariably “stupid.”
Magnussen came directly in front of Leclerc during Q2 in Spa on Friday. The Ferrari driver who was on a hot lap had to abort following the impedance from Magnussen. A furious Leclerc hit out at the Haas driver and immediately demanded a penalty.
After the stewards investigated the incident, they slapped Magnussen with a three-place grid penalty. This means that he will start the Sunday race from P16. Speaking about his impedance on Leclerc, he said as per Autosport that it was not easy for him to move away.
As there was only one dry racing line, to make space for the Ferrari driver under such treacherous conditions was indeed a hard task, the Haas driver revealed. Even though the 30-year-old received a penalty on Friday, back in 2018 he got off easy and that made made Leclerc very angry.
What happened between Leclerc and Magnussen in 2018?
During the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit, Leclerc collided with the back of Magnussen’s Haas. The collision left Leclerc’s front wing damaged, while the Haas driver got his left rear punctured.
The Danish driver was trying to fend off the Monegasque, but his try turned futile when the unavoidable collision took place between them. Following the crash, Leclerc hit out at Magnussen and called him “stupid.”
“Magnussen is, and will always be, stupid,” were his exact words on the radio after the collision. The current Ferrari driver, back then compared to the 2018 collision with that of the 2016 tussle between Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen at Spa.
Magnussen, speaking about it, however, said according to F1, “Unfortunate, but that’s what happens sometimes”. Interestingly, Leclerc understood that Magnussen had nowhere to go but impede him given the place the former was in.
Leclerc and Magnussen’s 2023 F1 season
Even though the 2018 F1 season saw both Charles Leclerc and Kevin Magnussen fighting at the back of the pack most of the races, things have changed drastically for the former now.
The 25-year-old is to start Sunday’s Belgian GP race from P1 after Max Verstappen’s grid penalty. On the other hand, he also took P5 in Saturday’s sprint. Magnussen, meanwhile, seems to be struggling with his car. Even after driving a Haas, has been very competitive at times, including against Leclerc’s Ferrari during the 2023 Miami Grand Prix.
As things stand, Charles Leclerc is in P7 with 84 points, whereas Kevin Magnussen is in P18 with two points. There are no chances that Haas will be able to catch Leclerc and Ferrari from the lowly positions. For now, their primary target will be to compete with Williams and keep Alfa Romeo at bay.
