Kevin Magnussen's team player defensive tactics have once again come under fire from several of his rivals, with Alex Albon accusing the Haas driver of "crossing the line” in the heat of a tight battle between several cars in the Dutch Grand Prix.
The criticism arose after Magnussen attempted – and not for the first time – to protect his teammate Nico Hulkenberg’s position, leading to a dangerous situation according to Albon and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Starting from the pit lane, Magnussen was used strategically by Haas to hold back a group of faster cars, those of Albon, Gasly and the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, in an effort to help Hulkenberg.
As the pack of drivers caught up to Magnussen, the latter employed aggressive tactics to slow them down, causing a bottleneck into Turn 1.
Albon, in particular, was vocal over the team radio, describing Magnussen’s tactics as “very dangerous.”
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It wasn’t the first time the Haas driver was singled out by his peers, having deployed his defensive driving tactics in Jeddah and in Miami earlier this year, much to his rivals’ discontent.
“Kevin’s an unbelievable team player and I give him full credit for it,” commented Albon.
“I don’t think it gets policed that well and there’s a bit of a grey area between what is correct in backing up a group of cars.
“In this case for me it was fairly marginal. There were some really quick corners, turn 7, turn 8, the final corner and he was braking in the middle of them!
“So you turn in flat and then you have to slam the brakes and avoid it.
“That’s, I think, crossing the line a little bit. But it’s grey and I think part of the issue is it’s not really being policed that often.
“I had the same situation in Monaco with Yuki during the race and I was complaining but they felt it was okay. The problem is at one point it’s going to be a crash.”
Pierre Gasly echoed Albon’s sentiments, recounting his own frustrations with Magnussen’s tactics.
“I’ve never seen someone lifting in Turn 14, or putting first gear in Turn 12,” Gasly remarked, highlighting the unusual driving behavior.
“I think Alex got very close to him. He locked up mid-corner Turn 12, when [Magnussen] was downshifting in first, when you should be almost full throttle.”
While Albon was clearly frustrated with the risky maneuvers, he also acknowledged why Magnussen might resort to such tactics.
With the midfield battle being as tight as it is, every point is crucial.
“It all just stems from the lower field teams,” the Williams driver explained. “That P10, P9 is so valuable to us.
“It’s very normal, every team does it now. One driver has to pay the sacrificial lamb in the race. That’s just what it is, that’s what a lot of the racing has come to now. It’s part of it.”
Albon also pointed out that the current points system, which rewards only the top 10 finishers, encourages these desperate defensive measures.
“Obviously if the point system was a bit different and everyone had a bit more range, I don’t think this kind of stuff would happen. But that’s the game,” he said.
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