Kevin Magnussen was involved in a bad accident that ended his race after 33 laps at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, when he went off the track following a big rear suspension failure that happened as he got on power out of turn 7. It spat him into the tecpro barriers at high speed.
“It was a heat issue which caused a suspension failure. It was heat from the brakes.”
Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner said, explaining how pushing the brake temperatures — already challenged by the temperatures in Mexico — to the limit led to the crash. He had gone off out of the last corner a couple of laps earlier as he attempted to defend against Logan Sargeant.
“Kevin was defending, and it tipped over. It was just because of the high temperatures here. We just need to manage it better. Nico’s car was OK.”
Magnussen, on his side, explained how the problem started a couple of laps before the incident, when he alerted the team that the rear left was “completely gone”.
“The suspension gave up. The rear left specifically lost a lot of grip a couple of laps before that, I suddenly lost a lot of grip on that, and then it gave up after.
“I think it was going alright. At the beginning of the race, it was better, and then suddenly I fell off more than the others. And then the suspension gave up. So I don’t know if it’s related. Maybe there’s something there, but I need to go and talk to the guys.”
Photo Credit: MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
After the crash, the Dane went to the medical centre and was cleared.
“I just got a knock on my hands, and they hurt a little bit, but they’re fine.”
The car was badly damaged and a small fire started after the contact against the barriers. But that does not seem to worry Steiner too much with three events to go as they still have three packages with the Austin upgrade.
“We are okay. It’s not ideal, but it’s okay. It’s always better at the end of the season. Now you can’t make any more parts even if you want them.”
With three races to go and the sprint in Brazil, Haas are now in last place in the Constructors’ Championship because of Daniel Ricciardo’s P7 finish on Sunday in Mexico.
