'I will die in the car' - Magnussen refuses to back down

Kevin Magnussen says he would rather die while racing than curb his aggressive instincts. The Haas driver has courted controversy throughout his time in Formula 1 and angered rookie Pierre Gasly with a hostile move in Baku, which almost put the Toro Rosso into a wall at almost 200mph.

????This sequence provoked a *very* strong reaction from Pierre Gasly, who subsequently referred to Kevin Magnussen as “the most dangerous driver on the grid” . #Formula1 #F1 #AzerbaijanGP #PierreGasly #KevinMagnussen #ToroRosso #HaasF1Team #InstaSport @bakucitycircuit

Article continues under video

A post shared by FORMULA 1® (@f1) on Apr 30, 2018 at 10:05am PDT

Gasly said "Kevin is the most dangerous guy I have ever raced with" after the incident in last weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Nico Hulkenberg and Magnussen clashed publicly last season after the Dane was similarly aggressive in Hungary.

However, the former McLaren driver says he must race harder to gain points in the congested midfield battle in F1.

Speaking before the race in Baku, Magnussen told Reuters: "I race hard. In a situation like this with a midfield team, you're not guaranteed to score points. And sometimes you have nothing to lose.

"You might get a penalty, you might lose your front wing but there's nothing to lose if you're 11th. Go for it. Sometimes you have to be a lot more aggressive when you're fighting out there.

"If you are fighting for the championship, you have to play the long game. You have to change your approach. If I was fighting for the championship, you wouldn't see me racing the same way.

"I don't like compromises. I will give everything. I will die in the car. I won't hold back. I would put my life on [the line]. Absolutely.

"When you put your helmet on and you're in the race, I find that's just everything there is in the world.

"I love my family, and there's so many things in life I enjoy, but when I'm in the car there's nothing else that means anything."