02/09/2018
NEWS STORY
Haas team boss Guenther Steiner has hit back at Fernando Alonso following comments the Spaniard made in the wake of his clash with Kevin Magnussen in qualifying.
In the aftermath of the strange incident in Q2 which saw the Spaniard and the Dane almost come to a standstill as they jostled for position at the first chicane - a move which destroyed their laps and got them hauled before the stewards, Alonso told reporters: "There are many classes of drivers and then there are the Haas ones, who have the third or fourth-best car of the grid and are out in Q2".
Understandably, team boss Steiner wasn't happy.
"Fernando went to McLaren, which shouldn't be fighting to get out of Q1," said the Italian. "So, I cannot help him there. I didn't make the decisions. He can talk for himself not for the others, that's a good starting point in life."
Referring to the incident, he said: I saw them going out behind Alonso and it was like, ‘here we go…' but you don't want to say anything because it seems like you're paranoid... and then it happened.
"I think there is a trend there," he continued, "but I think Alonso had nothing to lose and we had something to lose.
"On his best day, today, they couldn't catch us," he added. "Even with the best slipstream ever it was impossible for him to catch him. If Kevin passed him before the Parabolica he must have had a reason."
Asked if Alonso, who was not considered by Red Bull as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo because Helmut Marko claims he is always surrounded by chaos, would have tried a similar move with other drivers, Steiner replied: "That's a question for Fernando if he would have done it or not on somebody else.
"He complains, but he complains about everybody, so that's how he gets away with it."