Renault driver Kevin Magnussen has been cleared by the Formula 1 stewards of what Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat claimed was “pure blocking” during qualifying for the British Grand Prix.

Kvyat was adamant post-qualifying Magnussen deliberately impeded him, and potentially denied him a place in Q3.

“I was coming up on a very good lap, the best of my session for sure,” said Kvyat. “He was five seconds off his lap time and he just stayed in front of me, starting from Becketts. I lost downforce behind him.

“I thought he would let me by on the Hangar Straight, but he didn’t move over and I did the last four corners behind him. I lost a hell of a lot of lap time. A real shame. I don’t know why. I personally respect other drivers in qualifying and I move over.

“When I don’t sometimes, when I don’t see them, I’m very sorry. He just blocked me. We have enough clear data to show the stewards to make them understand he was wrong. It was pure blocking.”

However, the stewards opted not to take any action against Magnussen. A stewards’ statement read: “Both drivers concerned were on their final fast qualifying lap.

“Although Kvyat was the faster car, he was considerably behind Magnussen until both drivers were fully committed to Turn 15 [Stowe]. Due to very poor grip, Magnussen was considerably slower than normal through the corner, but within the corner there was no reasonable opportunity to let Kvyat through.

“Although Magnussen moved to give space at the exit of Turn 15, Kvyat had already slowed to a similar speed. The stewards, therefore, accepted that under the circumstances, Magnussen did not unnecessarily impede as described by art 31.6 of the sporting regulations.”

Explaining his position, Magnussen said: “I was going as fast as I could with what I had. The problem was in sector two I made a few mistakes that cost me a lot of time, so basically he gained a lot.

“He caught up, and I was only aware he was behind me through Turn 16 [Vale]. At Turn 15 he was pretty close, but I didn’t think I was holding him up. At 16 I realized I was holding him up. I opened the door for him to try, but he didn’t. He backed out. I apologized to him straight after. I said ‘I’m sorry.’

“Obviously he’s annoyed because he could have been in Q3 if he hadn’t have been held up by me, but I had to do what I had to do.”

The duo had clashed earlier this year in Monaco, with Kvyat handed a three-place penalty for the following race in Canada after colliding with Magnussen in an incident in which both ended up in the barriers at Rascasse.