Alonso hits out at Magnussen over ‘not very clever’ qualifying scrap

Fernando Alonso has labelled Kevin Magnussen’s driving as “not very clever” following an on-track run-in between the pair during qualifying for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.

The McLaren and Haas drivers found themselves sharing the same piece of tarmac at Turn 1 in the closing stages of Q2, with Alonso attempting to pull off a pass on Magnussen after he benefitted from a slipstream along the start-finish straight.

But Magnussen held firm as the pair ran side-by-side through the chicane and refused to concede position in a scrap that ultimately ruined both drivers final runs of the second segment of qualifying at Monza.

Alonso opened to his pit-to-car radio to claim “Magnussen wanted to race into Turn 1”, while the Dane was baffled by Alonso’s driving and asked his team “what the hell was Fernando doing?”

When asked for his view on the incident, Alonso said: “We were all running together with three and four seconds between the cars and at the last moment inside the Parabolica he decided to fill the gap I was opening with the car in front and we started the lap together.

“You arrive into Turn 1 together and it was not a very clever move. For me it doesn’t change much because I probably couldn’t be in Q3 today anyway with the performance. For him he could be in Q3 and he decided in the last moment something that is maybe not very clever.”

While Alonso went on to qualify 13^th – a position he described as a “little miracle” following McLaren’s struggles throughout practice, Magnussen missed out on a spot in Q3 and will start Sunday’s race from 11^th.

A frustrated Magnussen felt he had the pace to challenge for seventh spot.

“He overtook me into Turn 1 and ruined both of our laps," Magnussen explained. "So that’s pretty annoying.

"It’s not great for me at this point, we were very fast and we should be easily in Q3 and then slower cars ruin it for us.”

Both drivers have been summoned to see the stewards about the incident.