Charlie Whiting speaks out on the Magnussen-Leclerc incident

The incident involving Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Charles Leclerc (Sauber) during the first laps of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka caused a lot of discussion. Deemed “stupid” by the Monegasque, the behavior of the Danish pilot was not sanctioned by the FIA ​​stewards.

As he was preparing to attempt an overtaking maneuver, Charles Leclerc was surprised by his rival's sudden change in trajectory, leading to contact between the two cars.
The day after the event, Charlie Whiting wanted to explain the position of the panel of commissioners. “If you analyze very, very finely, you see two cars coming down the pit straight, with Kevin who doesn't move and Charles who catches him, explains the English race director.

“Magnussen is and always will be stupid” @Charles_Leclerc did not thin his words after clashing with K-Mag#JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/YOomZEQXnm

— Formula 1 (@F1) 7th October, 2018

Charles decides to move to the right, and, at exactly the same moment, or on the video a fraction of a frame later, Kevin moves. In my opinion, it is impossible to say that Kevin blocked it. It's simply that he acted by going to the right just after Charles decided to do so. »

Charlie Whiting clarifies “that you have to look at the video in detail and analyze it to see it.” You be the judge below:

Find the analysis of the Japanese GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2186 of AUTOhebdo, available Monday evening in digital version and Wednesday on newsstands.