Lewis Hamilton not being 'p*ssed' at Kevin Magnussen's defensive tactics surprises F1 pundit
F1 pundit Natalie Pinkham expressed surprise at Lewis Hamilton's laidback demeanor to Kevin Magnussen's defensive tactics in Miami. During the sprint race, Magnussen was trying to defend his position against Lewis as he was also trying to back up the field and open the gap to teammate Nico Hulkenberg ahead of him.
During his defense, there were multiple moments where Kevin Magnussen overstepped the mark in terms of defensive driving. He outbraked himself multiple times, pushed Lewis Hamilton wide with him.
After the sprint, Kevin Magnussen was given multiple penalties and even called to the stewards for unsportsmanlike conduct. Lewis Hamilton, however, was quite laid back when talking to the media about this.
He told the media that Kevin was playing the team game and he wasn't pissed at him whatsoever. Talking about the incident on the Sky F1 podcast and Lewis Hamilton's demeanor after the sprint, Natalie Pinkham expressed her surprise as she said,
"I was surprised because I’m used to drivers coming in and saying, ‘not my fault mate!’ And actually for him to hold his hands, I’m torn on this. I’m a big K-Mag fan. I think he’s a great guy. And actually to hear him be so candid and honest was really quite refreshing."
She added,
"And then to hear Lewis’ response also surprised me more as well. He went, ‘fair play, I really respect his honesty, I never had problem with it’. Now, if Lewis Hamilton doesn’t have a problem with it, then I certainly don’t. I don’t make the rules. I quite enjoyed seeing them tough it out. I enjoyed it if I’m honest.”
Karun Chandhok gives his take on the Lewis Hamilton-Kevin Magnussen crash
Karun Chandhok felt that Magnussen was probably over the limit in his defense against Lewis in the sprint. The former F1 driver talked about how Magnussen's defense in Jeddah was acceptable, where he held off multiple cars but stayed on the track. For the sprint in Miami against Hamilton, however, Karun felt that Kevin overstepped the mark. He said,
"I think he was little bit over the limit, wasn’t he? I think what he did in Jeddah was fine because he was staying within the track and he was basically backing people up in a in a clever, tactical way."
He added,
"But I thought some of the stuff with Lewis… when you’re running off the track and taking the other car with you, I think that’s just not particularly sporting, is it? You’ve got to play the game but I think you’ve also got to at some point be fair to the other competitors.”
Lewis ended the sprint outside of points, while Kevin Magnussen got multiple points for his discretion. The Haas driver has now accumulated 10 penalty points against his name, just 2 less than the quota that can get him banned for a race.