Haas F1 team chief Guenther Steiner is tired of his driver Kevin Magnussen coming under fire for his robust defensive tactics from his rivals, this time Charles Leclerc labelled the Dane "stupid" for an incident early on during the Japanese Grand Prix.
But after the race Steiner questioned Leclerc's driving, "He ran into him! Kevin didn't brake, he didn't push him off or anything, Kevin just moved over to his line and he ran into him. What can he do? Just let him by?"
"It was before the braking point. It was not under braking. [Leclerc] needs to judge what he can do and what he cannot. [Magnussen] didn't run into the side of him, he was clearly in front because he could move in front of him."
In the past Magnussen has copped flak from the likes of Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly.
Steiner added, "It's more of the same. And I'm getting quite tired of this. If they have a problem with him just blame him for it because it's quite normal."
Magnussen suffered a puncture as a result of the incident and with it a DNF when a strong points scoring opportunity was on the cards.
He reflected afterwards, “Well, I passed Charles around the outside of 130R, then through the last chicane he kept close and slipstreamed down the main straight. I went to the right, I think he followed for a bit and then went back to the left and clipped my left-rear tire, causing the puncture."
"It’s unfortunate, but that’s what happens sometimes. The tire delaminated and ripped all the floor. It damaged the rear wing, the brake ducts, etc, so we had to retire," added the Haas driver.
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