26 May 2024 , 14:34
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A photographer was taken to the Monaco Grand Prix medical centre after the opening-lap crash which took three cars out of the race.
The smash happened on the first lap of the race heading up the hill after the first corner. Kevin Magnussen made contract with Sergio Perez and sent the Red Bull into a spin which also caused contact with the other Haas being driven by Nico Hulkenberg.
All three cars picked up terminal damage and were out of the race. And the Grand Prix itself was stopped as debris had been thrown across the track, most of it from the Red Bull which was obliterated as it made hefty contact with the barrier.
Fortunately, all three drivers were okay and able to make their way off the track under their own power. However, it soon emerged that a photographer who had been positioned trackside near the site of the crash had been hurt.
Reports of the injury initially appeared on social media. The FIA has since confirmed that a photographer was taken to the medical centre but had "no open wounds". After checks, they were released.
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The stewards briefly investigated the incident but later decided that no further action was necessary. Speaking in the media pen afterwards, Magnussen insisted that he could have done nothing to prevent the contact and blamed Perez for not giving him enough room.
He said: "From my point of view, I had a good chunk of my front alongside Perez's rear, and when he went into the wall, I got taken into the wall and pushed into him. I trusted that he was going to leave the space for me since I was there and it is not a corner you are braking into, it is just a little bend on the straight.
"You have to have a car width or you leave the guy with no option. It is unfortunate, it is a lot of cost to the team and a lot of work for the guys and a missed opportunity. But from my view, I was there and was squeezed to the wall."
Magnussen will have breathed a huge sign of relief after learning there would be no punishment for the crash. He has 10 penalty points on his licence and is just two more away from triggering an automatic race ban, and so needs to stay out of trouble.
While he avoided the wrath of the stewards, Esteban Ocon was not so lucky. He had crashed out in a separate incident on the first lap and was punished for causing contact with his team-mate Pierre Gasly - it will be converted to a grid drop for the next race in Canada, because he could not continue in Monaco.