Magnussen: “Not much to worry about” after Spa crash

Italian Grand Prix – Renault’s Kevin Magnussen says it’s business as usual for him this weekend, just days after his frightening smash at Eau Rouge that saw the Dane hospitalised. Magnussen crashed heavily in the early stages of last Sunday’s race at Spa-Francorchamps, losing control of the rear of his RS16 coming over the top of Radillion. Smashing into the barriers backwards, the impact was so violent that the cockpit head protection was ripped from his car.

Hobbling from the car under Safety Car conditions, the race was red-flagged shortly after to facilitate repairs to the tyre barrier. Magnussen was brought to the Medical Centre before being brought to hospital in nearby Verviers for X-Rays. He was found to have suffered no injuries.

“I have just relaxed” said the Renault driver when asked about his crash in Thursday’s Press Conference. “Nothing was broken, I wasn’t injured so just a bit sore in my body and I didn’t need to do anything special. No special treatments or anything. Yeah, just took a couple of days at home and ready for the next race.”

Explaining the circumstances that led to the smash, he said: “I spun at the top of Eau Rouge. I hit a bump and lost the rear. I thought I was going to go left into a spin, but then the car caught grip again and I went right and into the wall. Yeah, that’s what happened.”

Asked about whether he had any increased apprehension about getting into the car so soon after such a hefty crash, particularly at another high speed circuit, Magnussen explained that there were no doubts in his mind and he was looking forward to racing hard: “After a crash like that it’s clear that the car is very safe and there’s not too much to worry about. I’m going to be flat-out again and pushing as hard as I can. I think in terms of expectations for this race, we had a stronger weekend in Spa and were a little bit surprised by our pace in qualifying especially. On this track the setup is not too different, the setup is very similar, so hopefully it will show that we are still on that level.”