Kevin Magnussen claims Fernando Alonso is "annoyed" Haas is ahead of McLaren in Australia after the Spaniard said the only reason the team was performing so well is because the VF-18 is simply a replica of last year's race-winning Ferrari.
American outfit Haas has a technical partnership with Ferrari meaning it sources various components from the Italian team, as well as running the latest Ferrari power unit.
In qualifying for the season-opening race in Australia, Haas secured its best ever result with fifth and sixth – once Daniel Ricciardo serves his penalty. Alonso meanwhile failed to make it through to Q3 and will start P11 – six places lower than the Dane.
"He's annoyed that we're in front," Magnussen said on Saturday. "I wonder why it happened to McLaren. I’ve raced for the team and seen the infrastructure and compared to this, it must be annoying.
"I'm really proud of the team and impressed. We've got a car that's competitive here, it's the fourth best car on the grid this weekend."
Romain Grosjean said Alonso's comments discredits the effort of Haas, who have put the time, effort and dedication into designing and building its 2018 car.
"We’re using the same suspension, the same gearbox, the same engine. Everyone knows that the suspension is defining a lot of the flow so of course there’s going to be similarities," added the Frenchman.
"But again we’re doing our own car and if we were a Ferrari B we’d be up there with them. It’s not true and it’s not nice for the people that work at Haas and produce the VF-18.”
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