Kevin Magnussen insists there is no lasting grudge between him and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg after the pair fell out in 2017.
The pair came to blows in the latter stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix when Magnussen ran Hulkenberg wide at Turn 2. After the race, Hulkenberg dubbed Magnussen ‘The most unsporting driver on the grid’.
Aggrieved at the move, the Renault driver door-stepped the Dane during a TV interview leading to the infamous response, “Suck my balls, honey.”
Despite the war of words between the two drivers, Magnussen believes there is no lasting grudge between the two of them and says he actually respects Hulkenberg as a driver above all else.
Speaking on the official Formula 1 podcast, ‘Beyond The Grid’, Magnussen said: “He interrupted an interview and it was pretty disrespectful and I just didn’t think about what I was gonna say, but you know I just wanted him to bugger off and that was what came to mind. Yeah, I think he asked for it.
“After this whole thing and that interview, that comment. I think Nico took it really personally and he still doesn’t ever talk to me. I think he really holds a grudge after that.
“I respect him a lot as a driver but I don’t know him as a person, I think a lot of fans and people that follow Formula 1 think there is this thing between me and Nico, but there really isn’t. He is a driver that I really respect on the grid.
“I think it’s more annoying that there is this thing with me and him because it’s not real, it was just that one moment where he interrupted my interview and I said that thing but it was nothing more than that.”
