It was hard not to wince on lap two of the Japanese Grand Prix when Kevin Magnussen jinked his Haas to the right on Suzuka’s start-finish straight as he defended from a fast-approaching Charles Leclerc.

With nowhere to go, Leclerc couldn’t help but rear-end Magnussen, damaging his own front wing and puncturing the Dane’s rear-left tyre in the heart-stopping incident. Leclerc wasn't pleased, and his appraisal of Magnussen’s driving on team radio in the immediate aftermath was as succinct as it was brutal.

“Magnussen is, and will always be, stupid,” he said. After reviewing the footage, meanwhile, the stewards decided that no further action was necessary.

When asked about the Magnussen fight the race after the race, Leclerc made reference to Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen's 2016 tussle at Spa – an incident which also saw the stewards opt not to hand out any reprimands…

“For me, there was a similar situation with Kimi and Max… in Spa,” he said, “where Max moved at the really last moment and everyone agreed that it was dangerous to do that and that it was not allowed anymore. But strangely it has been accepted today so I will have to get some response on that [from the stewards] to just know what I can do in the car.”