Magnussen angry with Alonso but stewards take no action against either driver; Sunday's Italian GP begins at 2.10pm, with build-up from 12.30pm on Sky F1
Thursday 6 December 2018 10:50, UK
Kevin Magnussen has blasted the "disrespectful" Fernando Alonso after their clash in Italian GP qualifying, claiming the McLaren driver "thinks he's a god" and insisting "I can't wait for him to retire".
In an extraordinary incident at Monza, Alonso tried to overtake Magnussen at the first corner of their final flying laps in Q2 and the two drivers locked wheels.
The Haas and McLaren cars then remained locked as they navigated the chicane, with neither Alonso nor Magnussen subsequently progressing to the top-10 shootout.
Stewards investigated the incident but ruled no action was required as it did not involve 'unnecessary impeding by either driver'.
However, Magnussen remained unimpressed with his McLaren rival, who is leaving the sport at the end of the season, and said: "Fernando was intentionally trying to be close in order to have a perfect slipstream and overtake into Turn One. That's just disrespectful.
"I know he thinks he's a god but no way am I going to let him past me. It was just pretty stupid and unnecessary.
"He came to me after qualifying and laughed to my face. It's outright disrespectful. I can't wait for him to retire."
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Magnussen, who worked with Alonso at McLaren while he was the team's third driver in 2014, continued: "I think we know that Fernando is a bit of an opportunist. We have seen that quite a few times in his career.
"With his teams as well, trying different things that didn't always work out. And it didn't work out today either.
"He's talking about his life being divine... he literally thinks he's a god. It's pretty amusing."
Alonso was told about Magnussen's comments in his post-qualifying media session, but stated he had "nothing" to say in response.
Instead, Alonso told reporters: "There is no problem. He thought it was a better position to be in front of my car at that time but his decision was very late.
"We could not start the lap at the same time. He lost what I lost, it was just an unlucky situation.
On social media, Magnussen's team also indicated they believed Alonso was to blame for the clash, tweeting: "Replays showing @alo_oficial going deep into first turn then cutting straight out into @KevinMagnussen's line. Denied Kev his shot at joining @RGrosjean in #Q3."
However, after speaking to both drivers and reviewing video evidence, stewards ruled neither driver was wholly at fault.
'The Stewards determined that the incident between Car 14 and Car 20 at turn one did not specifically constitute unnecessary impeding by either driver, notwithstanding the fact that both drivers lost their lap,' said a statement.
Giving his version of events, Alonso said: "At the very last moment, on the inside of the Parabolica, Kevin decided to overtake me and fill the gap between my car and the car in front of me. In Parabolica you normally launch the out-lap and start accelerating, but we arrived together into Turn One and we both lost the lap."
Magnussen will start Sunday's race from 11th position while Alonso lines up on the row behind in 13th.
