Spanish GP: Haas clear air with Grosjean and Magnussen after clash

"It's ended as being a little bit of a controversial weekend, but we've sorted it out," says Steiner after late Magnussen-Grosjean clash; Plus what happened in Stroll vs Norris?

By James Galloway

Haas boss Guenther Steiner held immediate "clear the air" talks with drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean after their late clash in the Spanish GP.

Battling over seventh position on an impressive midfield-leading weekend for the team, Magnussen overtook Grosjean on the lap 53 Safety Car restart with the two cars making mild contact into Turn One and the latter running wide.

Their battle continued for several more laps as Grosjean attempted to come back at his team-mate but Magnussen held the position, whereas the Frenchman ended up slipping to 10th behind Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat

"It's ended as being a little bit of a controversial weekend, but we've sorted it out - cleared the air between the drivers," said Steiner.

"That's the most important thing after their race. We maybe lost a couple of points, but we're all happy to move forward from here, everything is fine."

Advertisement
A quick look back at the Spanish GP after Lewis Hamilton secured victory ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas

Speaking immediately after finishing the race, Kevin Magnussen told Sky F1: "We'll go and have a chat. It's worth talking about. It's not what you want to have, to have contact between team-mates, but no intentions from me or Romain I'm sure."

The double points finish nonetheless represented Haas' first top-10 results since the season-opener in Melbourne and move them ahead of Alfa Romeo and Renault to sixth in the Constructors' Championship.

Also See:

Find out more about Sky Sports F1

What happened between Norris and Stroll?
The late Safety Car period was triggered by a collision, also at Turn One, between Lando Norris' McLaren and Lance Stroll's Racing Point. Both drivers span into the gravel and retired.

Stewards investigated the accident after the race but took no further action.

Highlights of the 2019 Spanish GP from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

What did the Sky F1 pundits make of the clash?

Jenson Button: "If we were in that car we would probably have given Lando a bit more space but, still, Lando being in that position is putting him in a really tricky position.

"A little bit like the Grosjean-Magnussen move. Once you get halfway alongside and you're turning into a left-hand corner, you've got to back out of it."

Paul di Resta: "If there's anything, I would say Lance could have given Norris a bit more space. Norris was brave to be in there but he had the right to have a bit of space because he was alongside him.

"I don't think there deserves to be any action but they both came off worse than they needed because they retired."

Sky Sports F1 is the home of live and exclusive F1 - and new and existing customers in the UK can now get the channel for just £10 extra a month. Find out more here to watch the 2019 season live

Outbrain