“I wish I gave Lewis Hamilton slightly more room”- Kevin Magnussen does not blame seven-time World Champion for their clash at the Spanish Grand Prix

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen made contact during the first lap of the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend.

The two of them went on to have very different races thereafter. Magnussen and Hamilton had to pit after their clash, and both rejoined the track in P18 and P19 respectively. The former went on to finish the race in 17th, two laps down to winner Max Verstappen.

Hamilton on the other hand, charged up the field despite being 19th at one stage. He battled his way through, and finished fifth that afternoon. He almost got the fourth position to his name, but a late charge from Carlos Sainz took that away.

The Mercedes driver’s recovery drive earned him plenty of plaudits, with several notable figures insisting that without his crash, Hamilton could have earned his first win of the season.

Initially, Magnussen blamed Hamilton for the crash. This was evident as the Dane took to the team radio to lash out at the 37-year old. However upon reflection, he admits that he was wrong to place blame on him.

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Contact with Lewis Hamilton was an unfortunate outcome for Magnussen

Lap 1 crashes are not uncommon in F1. It’s the only part of the race where all twenty cars are crammed up, before they space out in the latter stages. Magnussen who started in the top 10, tried his best to get the most out of the VF-22 in the opening stages. Unfortunately for him, his car and Hamilton’s W13 came too close to each other.

Magnussen’s radio message which was directly aimed at Hamilton caused a stir on social media. Hamilton fans blasted the 29-year old for blaming him for the incident. He now recognizes his mistake, and said that he does not blame the Mercedes ace.

“Yeah, I had a chance to look at it and of course changed my view on it,” he said as quoted by ESPN. “I had a feeling when I was on the track that he opened his steering, but that’s not what happened.

“He got into the slipstream of the Ferrari, understeered a tiny bit. I was super close to him, and I gave him not much room for error, gave no margin. You don’t want to go too wide and into the dirty part of the track. That’s what I did. We touched, unfortunately.”

F1 action continues this weekend with the Monaco GP, a track where Hamilton has won three times before.

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