Dane Kevin Magnussen was given a three-place grid penalty by the stewards for blocking Mexican Sergio Perez during qualifying at the United States Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Haas driver impeded the Force India racer through Turns 13 and 14 at the Circuit of the Americas during the Q1 session.
“I had to use an extra set of tyres, which meant I went into Q3 with a single (fresh) set, so that hurt me a lot,” said Perez, who went on to qualify 10th for Sunday’s race.
“He didn’t do it on purpose, but they are quite often, him or Haas, getting it wrong. So I think it’s something they have to improve at.”
Magnussen said afterwards that his Haas team had mistakenly told him that Perez was not on a flying lap, but admitted the penalty was expected.
“I was told that he was on an ‘out’ lap so I didn’t let him through, so I can understand if he’s pretty angry with that,” Magnussen said. “I was expecting a penalty.”- Agence France-Presse
