Renault wins its first points of the season

Kevin Magnussen took seventh place at the Russian Grand Prix and thus offered Renault Sport F1 Team his first top ten of the year after four races. The Dane made a strong comeback from 17th position to gain ten places in the peloton, a performance which was noticed by the public since he was elected GP driver.

“It’s really great to score these first points for the team. I know how hard everyone is working this season”, said the former pilot McLaren. “I had a great start before losing a few positions in the first corner due to the spin that happened in front of me. I then attacked hard throughout the race, made some nice overtakes and had a perfect pit stop from the team. We've been a little lucky, but I'm not going to complain, we've had bad luck in the past too! »

“Everyone took it upon themselves after the Chinese Grand Prix”, added Frédéric Vasseur, the director of the competition. “To place comfortably in the top ten at a circuit where we did not expect to excel is therefore testament to the resolve of everyone within the team. Kevin had a great race and we couldn't ask for more from him. »

Jolyon Palmer was less successful as he finished in 13th place. “It’s great for the team to get their first points of the year and I’m delighted to see our tangible progress with the R.S.16. Today Kevin showed what we can do and it’s a good reference for the next races. Overall we learned a lot of positive things this weekend and I think there are many aspects we can build on for future races.”, commented the Briton.

Discover the interview with Frédéric Vasseur and the analysis of the Russian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2061 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms, and on newsstands from Wednesday.