Perez and Magnussen play blame game after huge Monaco Grand Prix crash

By Sports Desk May 27, 2024

Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen both blame each other for the huge crash that forced a restart in the Monaco Grand Prix.

The pair came together during the opening lap of the race as Magnussen attempted to squeeze through a tight gap on the inside of Perez on the exit of Turn One.

The Red Bull was destroyed during the incident, while the Dane’s Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg also got caught in the chaos.

All three drivers were unharmed, though were ultimately forced out of the race when it restarted.

Perez was adamant following the race that the blame should be placed firmly on Magnussen’s shoulders.

He said: "It was an immense crash, one I'm disappointed about. I think it was totally unnecessary at that point of the race and there was no need for that.

"At some point, you have two options: Lift or have a contact, and I think it was too unnecessary with the speeds we were doing, and it was a massive contact.

"It was important to take things a little bit calmer."

The incident compounded a disappointing weekend for both teams, in particularly Haas after both drivers were disqualified from qualifying and sent to the back of the grid due to a technical infringement.

However, Magnussen stood by his belief he had every right to go for the gap and was forced into the barrier by the Mexican.

"From my point of view, I had a good part of my front on Perez's rear and when he went to the wall I got pushed to the wall and made contact with him," Magnussen said.

"I trusted he was going to leave space for me since I was there. It's not a corner where you're braking into it, it's a bend on the straight, so you have to have a car otherwise you leave the other guy no option.

"From my point of view, I was there, and I got squeezed to the wall."

Ultimately, neither driver was punished for the incident as the stewards deemed it a racing incident which needed no further investigation. 

Related items

  • Sessegnon rejoins boyhood club Fulham after Tottenham departure Sessegnon rejoins boyhood club Fulham after Tottenham departure

    Ryan Sessegnon has resigned for Fulham on a free transfer, five years after leaving the club.

    The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Cottagers with the option to extend for a further year following his departure from Tottenham last month.

    In his first spell at the club, Sessegnon worked his way through the academy over 11 years, scoring 25 goals in 120 first-team appearances.

    He then moved to Spurs in a £25million deal in 2019, though struggled to nail down a place in North London, making just 57 appearances in all competitions, and scoring three goals.

    "It's amazing to be back. Emotional, as well," he told FFCtv. "It's where it started for me, where everything began, and it's amazing to be back.

    "It will always be home for me. I think it had the feeling that it was meant to be, coming back here, so I'm delighted to get it done."

    Sessegnon is Fulham's first signing of the transfer window, though they have seen plenty of first-team departures already, with Joao Palhinha, Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby De Cordova-Reid all leaving the club.

  • Norris 'not comfortable' despite setting pace in Belgium practice Norris 'not comfortable' despite setting pace in Belgium practice

    Lando Norris admitted he was "not comfortable" despite being fastest in the Belgian Grand Prix second practice.

    McLaren finished first and second on Friday, with Norris finishing just 0.215 seconds ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.

    Max Verstappen finished third, but despite an impressive performance, his 10-place grid penalty will affect his result.

    Norris finished second in the Hungarian Grand Prix last week, behind Piastri, in a race overshadowed by a radio spat between the Brit and the pit wall.

    Having put that behind him, even after a confident practice session on Friday, Norris is not willing to rest on his laurels with Red Bull showing their threat.

    "Red Bull are very quick at the minute," Norris said. "So, tricky, but I've just not felt very comfortable today with the car.

    "So hopefully I just wake up [on Saturday] and feel a bit more comfortable with it. But we'll try and improve a few things and see again.

    "I know it looked good on the timesheets, but I've not felt super comfortable in just going out and doing it. So, hopefully, I can just get in a bit more of a rhythm and feel a bit better out there."

    Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished in 10th after struggling to match the pace set in the second session.

    Mercedes have been credited for their improvement in recent weeks, with Hamilton winning at Silverstone before finishing third at Hungaroring last Sunday.

    However, he was also left disappointed on Friday and said he was hoping for the forecast rain over the rest of the weekend to give the team more of an edge.

    "It was a pretty bad day," Hamilton said.

    "I don't really know what to say! Obviously, it's been feeling great in the past couple of races, but it just felt completely different today.

    "We worked on it. The first session was not great, but then in the second session we made some changes, and it started off great, and then when I got to the soft tyre I just couldn't improve and there were a bunch of balance issues we had through the lap.

    "It was better through this session, but everyone else went even better. So, to be 1.2s behind is not great.

    "If it rains, then that opens it up a little bit and, hopefully, we can do a better job. I think the car should be better in the wet than it is in the dry."

  • Perez '100% certain' of Red Bull stay after Belgian Grand Prix Perez '100% certain' of Red Bull stay after Belgian Grand Prix

    Sergio Perez is confident he will still be at Red Bull after this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix regardless of the result.

    There has been a lot of speculation over the Mexican's future in recent weeks following a series of poor results at recent races, despite him signing a two-year extension with the team just last month.

    Since coming fourth at the Miami Grand Prix in May, Perez's best finish has been seventh, both in Austria and Hungary, and he failed to advance beyond Q1 in four of the last six races.

    His drop in form has allowed McLaren to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' championship to just 51 points.

    With the four-week break soon approaching, both RB driver Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's reserve driver Liam Lawson have been linked with Perez's seat.

    However, the 34-year-old is certain he will still be competing alongside Max Verstappen when the season resumes.

    "I am 100% sure," Perez said.

    "Because I know basically what's in my contract and I know what the team trusts in me. And I know where is the main focus, which is on delivering on the track.

    "It's no different to what it was in Hungary or [at the first race] in Bahrain or how it will be in Zandvoort or the rest of the year," Perez said.

    "Every single weekend we've got to deliver the maximum, especially now that, with McLaren catching up in the constructors, it's really important to put everything together if we can achieve it.

    "I'm not worried about it. Like I said, I know where I stand. That's not my concern. My only concern I have is to get my season back on track. The rest, I'm pretty chilled about."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.