Magnussen: Walk back to Interlagos pits 'more dangerous' than driving!

Kevin Magnussen says his "crazy" post-race walk back to the paddock at Interlagos turned out to be the most dangerous part of his Brazilian Grand Prix weekend!

Magnussen was left stranded out on the track after McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo had spun the pair into retirement on the opening lap of the race.

When the medical vehicle arrived on the scene, Ricciardo quickly took ownership of the single available seat in the car which returned to the pitlane and disembarked the McLaren charger.

Meantime, with no means to get back to the paddock, Magnussen had no other choice but to watch the race from behind the barriers for over an hour and a half, and then wait for someone to come and pick him up. But no one showed up!

"It was crazy. I don't know what went on, but it was the most dangerous thing I did all weekend, despite all the driving!" he said, recounting his adventure at the Autodromo José Carlos Pace.

"For whatever reason, I didn't catch a ride back to the pits. Daniel took me out of the race and then jumped in the safety car and took my ride back to the pits. And then I was left at the side of the track the whole race. I can survive that, that's okay.

"Then, I've tried to speak to the marshals, but they didn't speak a word of English, none at all. After the race, I was kind of waiting for someone to come and pick me up or something, and the marshals started leaving. And then I was like, what do I do?"

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Magnussen eventually set off on foot, but his progress was halted by a fence. Fortunately, a group of marshals came to his help.

"I ended up by a fence that I couldn't really see a way around," he said. "Of course, I could have walked the whole track and go around to the start finish, but there were all the fans.

"Then some of the marshals realised that I was in trouble and cut a hole in the fence and lifted me through, which was kind of sketchy.

"The marshals took good care of me [as he walked among the Brazilian fans] but it could have been bad, I guess. I am glad I wasn't Lewis Hamilton at Zandvoort. That would have been really sketchy!"

He eventually found his way back to the Haas garage, where dismantling work was well under way. Later on, the race organisers apologized for leaving him stranded and on his own.

"They apologised and stuff, but I mean, it was a pretty weird situation," he said. "Just come and pick me up: how hard can it be? It was surreal. I hope that doesn't happen again."

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