Kevin Magnussen was critical of Nyck de Vries after he was pushed off the road by the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver during the Austrian Grand Prix.
Magnussen was classified 18th in Sunday’s race, one spot behind de Vries despite the latter being penalised for their clash.
The two were embroiled in a scrap down the order when the Haas driver attempted a move around the outside at Turn 6.
Alongside de Vries around the fast left-hander, the Dutchman maintained the racing line and squeezed Magnussen onto the gravel.
Officials took issue with his robust defending, handing him a five-second time penalty and two penalty points on his licence.
“he did put me off but I mean, he’s, I guess racing for his future and maybe a bit of a desperate situation,” Magnussen said of the clash.
“Nothing I can say, really; he got a penalty, so it is what it is.”
The Austrian Grand Prix was another disappointing event for Haas, despite showing promise during the F1 Sprint on Saturday.
It was always going to be a tough race for Magnussen, however, as he qualified 19th before ultimately starting from the pit lane.
Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg lined up eighth but was an early retirement when his Ferrari engine appeared to cry enough.
“On our side, it was a tough day, no matter,” Magnussen said.
“No pace and very big tyre degradation, so there’s a bit of work that we need to do.
“Really need to try and make some progress in the race pace, very quickly.”
The Dane suggested it was the worst race of the season.
The Haas VF-23 suffers from well-documented tyre issues, with the car capable of solid single-lap pace only for that to evaporate over a stint.
It’s an issue the team is working in the first instance to simply understand.
In Austria, a new sensor was added to the nose of the car to increase the data points the team has to work with in the wind tunnel.
While not performance-enhancing in its own right, it gives designers more information as they work to remedy the issue currently plaguing the team.
Such is the motivation to improve the car’s Sunday potential that Magnussen had his set-up changed in parc ferme, necessitating a pit lane start.
“It was more a bit of an experiment,” Magnussen explained.
“We were in 19th anyway, and we knew the pace didn’t look good… why not just try something that actually will give us a bit of knowledge, and answer some of the questions we have?
“It’s not one thing, it’s a combination of things,” he added.
“It’s a very complex thing to solve.
“I have all faith in the team, and I do believe that we can turn it around and improve the situation.”
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