Magnussen-Alonso altercation: “He thinks he’s God”

Two of the strongest temperaments in the paddock clashed on track during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) exchanged a few pleasantries on the circuit, but also through the press.

It all started during the last attempt at Q2. A train of drivers takes to the track to try to qualify among the ten best times, including the Spaniard and the Dane. Logic would dictate that each car maintains a certain gap with the car preceding it, just to stay on the ideal trajectory.

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However, Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen tackled the first chicane of the circuit head-on, missing the rope of both turns, and annihilating their chances of a good turn ! “Magnussen wanted to fight at Turn 1”, immediately commented the double world champion. “What the hell is he doing? » replied the former pilot Renault and McLaren.

Placed under the watchful eye of the commissioners of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the incident did not give rise to any sanction. A few hours later, the two men obviously blamed each other. “We were five or cars grouped together, then at the exit of the Ascari chicane (last braking before the Parabolic), Alonso was warming up the brakes I think and he wasn't going fast. I passed it”, explains Kevin Magnussen.

“But then he tries to speed up and get closer to me rather than letting the gap widen like what everyone does. Obviously, he had a great slipstream and thought he could overtake me in Turn 1, continues the Formula Renault 3.5 champion in 2013.

“I wasn’t going to let it go and sacrifice my chances. Not possible. He thinks he's God! » Kevin Magnussen, fan of acid comments (we remember his insult addressed to Nico Hülkenberg in Hungary in 2017) continues hoping from Fernando Alonso that he does not finish the Italian GP. “He came up to me after the session and laughed in my face. It's just a total lack of respect. I can't wait for him to give up. I don't care why he did this to me. It was pretty stupid and pointless.."

For its part, Fernando Alonso refuses to apologize. “At the last moment, inside the Parabolic, Kevin decided to fill the gap I was creating with the car in front of me and we started the lap together. We arrived at Turn 1 together and it wasn’t very smart. He could have progressed to Q3 and instead he decided on something at the last moment that wasn’t very smart. »