Kevin Magnussen calls the former Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul a “school boy” and talks about the relationship in 2016

Ex-F1 driver Kevin Magnussen called his former Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul a “school boy” in his autobiography “All or Nothing”. The Dane made it clear that he had not been asked to leave the French team, but had made up his mind to leave.

Magnussen had a brief racing stint at Renault in the 2016 season, replacing Pastor Maldonado. The Danish driver played alongside rookie Jolyon Palmer, who has since become an F1 analyst.

Kevin Magnussen said Cyril Abiteboul was like a schoolboy who wanted to make it look like he rejected Kevin. Kevin said to him, “I broke up with you first.” Cyril then sent out a press release saying Renault would prefer Jolyon Palmer to Kevin.

Kevin Magnussen said Cyril Abiteboul was like a schoolboy who wanted to make it look like he rejected Kevin. Kevin said to him, “I broke up with you first.” Cyril then sent out a press release saying Renault would prefer Jolyon Palmer to Kevin.

The 29-year-old left Renault in late 2016 and instead opted for the Haas F1 team. However, Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul claimed the team preferred Jolyon Palmer to the Danish driver. Magnussen denied these claims, saying he had decided to leave the team and parted ways with the French side first.

Magnussen received a contract of only one year and named the contract duration as the decisive factor for his exit decision. He said:

“That was my decision. I had an offer, but not good enough to accept. It was rather the failure of Renault’s commitment. If you had committed to a longer contract, I would probably have looked at it much more seriously. “

The 2016 season was disappointing for Magnussen as he suffered a number of unfortunate incidents. The driver suffered a puncture at the Australian Grand Prix and ended up outside of the points in his first race for the French. He achieved his best result for the team at the Russian Grand Prix, where he finished seventh after the start as 17th.

Kevin Magnussen was approached by Williams for the 2021 season

Despite leaving the sport late last year, Kevin Magnussen announced that he would be approached by Williams in late 2020 to replace George Russell on the UK team.

Magnussen called the Williams offer “idiotic” and called Russell a “mega talent”. He said about the potential switch:

“Williams saw me as a possible replacement for George Russell. ‘What kind of team is this?’ I thought. Dropping Russell and keeping Nicholas Latifi was ridiculous, pure idiocy. “

In 2019, the Dane was in talks with Red Bull as a potential replacement for Daniel Ricciardo. However, the deal did not materialize, instead the driver was offered a place on the Red Bull Junior Team Torro Rosso.

When Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull, Kevin Magnussen was one of the drivers they contacted. They had already decided on Pierre Gasly, but Red Bull asked if he was interested in the now vacant Toro Rosso pitch.

When Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull, Kevin Magnussen was one of the drivers they contacted. They had already decided on Pierre Gasly, but Red Bull asked if he was interested in the now vacant Toro Rosso pitch.

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Like his Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean, Magnussen was unable to secure a place in Formula 1 at the end of last year and has since switched to other forms of motorsport.

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