Magnussen got a 10-second penalty for hitting Yuki Tsunoda during the restart of the race after the safety car period. As they turned at Turn 6, Magnussen’s car slid, and he hit Tsunoda’s car, making Tsunoda spin. Tsunoda’s car got damaged, so he had to stop racing, but Magnussen could keep going.
The race officials said Magnussen was mostly at fault for the crash and gave him the penalty. But Komatsu, Tsunoda’s team boss, thinks the penalty was too much. He said it was just a normal racing situation.
“I don’t think the penalty is fair. It was just a racing incident,” Komatsu said. “Magnussen didn’t push Tsunoda off the track. He went inside at Turn 6, and hit the corner, Tsunoda was outside, he still had space, Tsunoda slowly moved back.
“Magnussen didn’t push Tsunoda out of the track. He went inside, hit the corner, and still had space left. So why give him a penalty?”
Komatsu said they couldn’t appeal the penalty, but he wanted an explanation from the race officials because he disagreed with their decision.
Magnussen finished the race in 16th place because of his penalty. He said he couldn’t have done anything differently to avoid the crash.
“I don’t know. It looked like Tsunoda was going too wide. And then he managed to stay on track anyway. I couldn’t do much. But they said it was my fault. That’s how it is,” Magnussen said.
“I think I did my best. When we touched, there was still space on the outside. So I think we just didn’t understand each other well. I need to look at it again. But to me, it was just a racing incident.”
