Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has stated that high brake temperatures led to rear suspension failure on Kevin Magnussen‘s car.
Magnussen went off the the track at turn 8 and heavily hit the wall which led to a red flag.
Although ok and able to climb out the car, he did have to visit the medical centre. Passed as fit, he quickly returned to the paddock despite the scare.
Car cooling was a large issue for all the teams this weekend and was a large talking point within the race.
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One of the easiest parts to overheat are the brakes due to the sheer force they are put under. While defending from Logan Sargeant, he also changed the bias to the rear.
Magnussen let the brake temperature be unmanaged and despite calls by his engineer to get the brake temperature under control, it’s clear the damage had already been done before he could.
Soon after the crash, his brakes lit on fire as seen live on air which required marshalls to quickly put them out.
Steiner to Motorsport.com said: “It was a heat issue which caused a suspension failure, Kevin was defending, and it tipped over. It was just because of the high temperatures here. We just need to manage it better. Nico’s car was OK.”
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“Suddenly I fell off more than the others. And then the suspension gave up.”
With worries teams may run out of spare parts, Steiner has confirmed that won’t be an issue for Haas. The crash will require extensive rebuild and a complete new set of their recent upgrades.
He said: “We are okay. It’s not ideal, but it’s okay. It’s always better at the end of the season. Now you can’t any more parts even if you want them.”
Magnussen was seen struggling before the crash, going off on the main straight and complaining of no grip. Reflecting, Magnussen believes he knew something was amiss a few laps before the crash.
He said: “I’m feeling okay, the suspension gave up. The rear left specifically lost a lot of grip a couple of laps before that, I suddenly lost a lot of grip on that, and then it gave up after.
“I think it was going alright. At the beginning of the race, it was better, and then suddenly I fell off more than the others. And then the suspension gave up.
“So I don’t know if it’s related. Maybe there’s something there, but I need to go and talk to the guys.”
Despite shaking his wrists following the incident, he assured that no injuries occurred.
He said: I just got a knock on my hands, and they hurt a little bit, but they’re fine.”
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