BARCELONA, Spain – Renault Sport Formula One Team finished a close-packed 13th and 14th in today’s Pirelli Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. A different strategy was employed across the two cars, with Kevin Magnussen changing to a three-stop race and Jolyon Palmer running to two stops. Both drivers were right together for the final laps, with Jolyon finishing just 2.7 seconds ahead of Kevin.
- Kevin started the race in P15 on new soft Pirelli tires, changing to a new set of medium on lap 10, a new set of hard tires on lap 30 and a scrubbed set of soft tires on lap 55.
- Jolyon started the race in P17 on new soft tires, changing to new medium tires on lap 11 and new hard compound tires on lap 33.
Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-02: Started P15, finished P14
“We had decent pace on the soft tire, but on the hard and the medium – especially the medium – we were weak. It wasn’t a good day for me, and I’ll be working closely with the team to understand why we weren’t able to deliver. I’m definitely looking forward to the test and getting some new bits on the car, as today certainly wasn’t representative of what we’re capable of achieving.”
Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-03: Started P17, finished P13
“I think that was probably the best race I’ve done in terms of pace and performance. The car was feeling okay, we were battling tire degradation a bit but it was manageable. It’s a bit disappointing not to finish in the points, but for myself, I’m happy. More performance should be coming from the upgrades we have in store, so I’m looking forward to Monaco.”
Fred Vasseur, Racing Director
“That was a tough race for us, but both our drivers pushed hard right until the checkered flag. Kevin struggled on the hard tire, so we switched strategy for him – whereas Jolyon was able to make the most of a two-stop strategy and gave us his best performance to date. It was a great race for Formula 1 today. Congratulations to Max Verstappen on his first Grand Prix victory; it is good for the sport to see Red Bull back on the top step of the podium, especially in such an exciting manner.”
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