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Magnussen: Steiner did well to "shut me up" in Canada

Kevin Magnussen admits that his Haas Formula 1 team boss Gunther Steiner did well to make sure that he didn't "go crazy" on the radio during the Canadian GP.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1

Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1

Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

After Magnussen stated in a radio message that he was enduring the "worst experience" he'd ever had in a racing car, Steiner intervened and told the Dane that "enough was enough."

Following his qualifying crash, Magnussen started from the pitlane with a set-up gamble that didn't pay off and left him with a difficult car.

On the in-lap to the pits after the race, Magnussen apologised to the crew, acknowledging that they had to work hard to rebuild the car for him.

More Haas F1 insights :

"He didn't tell me off," he said when asked by Motorsport.com about Steiner's intervention. "You should hear when he tells me off! I think Gunther knows me very well and I don't complain very often. When I do it means I'm very, very frustrated.

"He knows that, so I think he did well to just shut me up and make sure I didn't go crazy. I was about to eat the steering wheel. It was very bad at that moment. We were helpless in the race, so it was better to just get on with it and talk about it afterwards.

"I realised my message sounded more offensive to the team than I meant it to be. I think I assumed that people understand we have a good car, and that the only thing that holds us back is us not being able to work the tyres right.

"I was very frustrated so I guess it was good to just tell me to get on with it. It's not like I would have said anything bad about the team or the car. I was just angry and felt like dying at that point. I don't think he needed to shut me up, but he did the right thing to make sure."

Regarding his post-race apology, he said: "I realised it sounded offensive to the team and to the crew who had just done such an amazing job overnight to get the car ready, I'd made the mistake on Saturday to crash the car and put a lot of work on them.

"I felt really bad they took it like that so I apologised to everyone. They know me really well, there's no feeling after the race. Everyone knew what I meant. They know I appreciate all their work and don't think of them in any bad way at all."

Magnussen admitted that he had even thought about stopping the car.

"I never felt like retiring as much as I did that race. Not only for me, but for the team that is doing such a good job with the car we have, and have produced such a great car.

"And made huge steps in other areas, when you look at the car the quality of the build and the parts is just very, very good. I see all this progress in the background because I'm part of the team, and you guys don't get to see that.

"And when we find ourselves in the situation like we did in Canada it's like a hit in the face to not only me, but the whole team. I feel sorry for them because they are doing such a good job, and it doesn't show on the race track."

 

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