Kevin Magnussen battled hard with Nyck de Vries in Austria, and the Haas charger believes the Dutchman's driving reflects his "desperate situation" at AlphaTauri and uncertain F1 future.
Magnussen started his race at the Red Bull Ring from the pitlane, swapping tyres twice during the early Safety Car period. Snapping at the heels of de Vries on the restart the Dane was forced wide at Turn 4.
He eventually worked his way into the top 10 in the first half of the race, but off-strategy on older tyres he relinquished positions and fell back down the order where he once again encountered de Vries.
And again, the Dutchman forced the Haas driver wide during their tussle, this time at Turn 6, a move for which de Vries was handed a five-second penalty by the stewards.
Magnussen reckoned that the pressure that has fallen on de Vries as a result of his disappointing performances with AlphaTauri is conditioning his aggressive driving.
"He got a penalty, right? So he did push me off but he’s, I guess, racing for his future," Magnussen said after the race.
"Maybe he's in a bit of a desperate situation, so nothing I can say really. He got a penalty, it is what it is."
Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko has reportedly told de Vries that he has four races to get his act together, a warning that is inevitably lingering at the back of the Dutchman's mind.
After the race, he made no mention of his personal situation but admitted that he had battled hard with Magnussen. He also had no complaints over the penalty levied upon him.
"We [Magnussen and I] happen to like each other when it comes to meeting each other on track but I think it was hard racing, I’ll take the penalty," de Vries said.
"Not my entitlement to judge on that. Stewards gave me a penalty and we took it. Thankfully for us we made a sufficient gap to not lose any positions.
"I’m not the person who decides whether I should get a penalty for it or not. We race hard, trying to find the limits and sometimes just beyond and sometimes below."
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