Magnussen delighted to be at Renault

After a disastrous stint at McLaren, Danish driver Kevin Magnussen was nervous that he wouldn’t be on the 2016 F1 grid. That is until he signed a last minute deal with Renault.

When quizzed by Formula1.com about whether the mood changed once McLaren announced Fernando Alonso would partner Jesnon Button instead of himself, the Dane admitted that it was unsettling at first but was delighted once the opportunity to race for Renault rose just before the start of the 2016 season.

“They were rocky weeks and months indeed! And my entrance to Renault was very pleasant, between me signing the contract and my announcement were exactly two days,” he quipped.

“The atmosphere in Enstone immediately got me. What I saw there convinced me from the first moment that there would be a bright future.”

Accumulating 343 laps during testing in Barcelona so far, Magnussen is satisfied with the progress of his 2016 car but knows there is still room for improvement over the next couple of days.

“The car has a good base. It is predictable and, if you see the number of laps I did over the past two days, reliable,” he explained.

“I think it is important to keep these characteristics of the car – but please a little bit more downforce – then it would be close to perfect.”