No penalty for the duel between Nyck De Vries and Kevin Magnussen: the duo in the course of the Canadian GP on lap 35 engaged in a battle for 12th place eventually going side by side through Turns 1 and 2 and had a slight tangle each other. De Vries got aggressive into turn 1 and almost forced Magnussen off, so the Dane got his elbows out into turn 2. They both ran wide and allowed Russell through.
Photo credit: MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
The AlphaTauri driver then got to the inside before turn 3 but locked up his front tyres on a dusty part of the track and went straight on into the escape road. Magnussen found himself blocked and was also forced into the run-off area. Both drivers got the chance to rejoin the race safely.
The pair believed that it was just a racing incident and had no problems fighting.
“I think it was kind of a decent race up until that point,” commented de Vries. “I guess we were just racing each other hard through Turns 1 and 2 and I undercut, I was on the dirt.
“We were pushing each other hard into that braking point and I locked up and went straight. It was kind of a racing fight and incident.
“I felt like I had the momentum, I thought I kind of had him, but then he kind of almost went through the grass and the kerb to get me back. We were just fighting, that’s racing.”
Magnussen gave the same opinion as his rival and admitted that there wasn’t points on the table anyway.
“He was racing pretty hard for sure, not much to complain about that.
“I think he just missed his braking point and went straight. I was on the outside of him so I couldn’t turn into the corner and went with him. Although I braked early enough to make the corner, I was blocked off because he was locking up or whatever
“Unfortunate but anyway I think we on our side were too slow today to really be in contention for points. It is what is. S*** happens.”
Magnussen and de Vries ended the race in 17th and 18th respectively.
