Renault Sport Formula One Team driver Jolyon Palmer was a half-spin away from his first Formula 1 points as both he and Kevin Magnussen moved up the order in a hot and fast-paced Hungarian Grand Prix. Jolyon was running comfortably in P10 with strong pace relative to those around him when the rear of his R.S.16 stepped out at turn four. Despite catching the spin Jolyon was unable to recover the resultant lost positions. Nevertheless, he still finished P12 in a race he described as his ‘best-ever’. Kevin finished in P15 after starting from P19.
- Kevin started the race from P19 with a new set of Pirelli’s red supersoft tyres. He changed to new supersofts on lap 24 then new soft compound (yellow) tyres on lap 36.
- Jolyon started the race in P17 on new soft tyres. He changed to new supersofts on lap 26 then new softs on lap 39.
Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-01: Started P19, finished P15
“The car definitely felt better this weekend. I had a pretty decent stint on my first set of supersoft tyres; I was able to look after them well and do quite a few laps on that set. Unfortunately that was after a poor start where I lost a few positions. I’ve had really good practice starts all weekend so that was quite disappointing. From then on, we pushed to make up places but my second stint on supersoft didn’t go as well as I hoped and the last part of the race was spent behind Grosjean and Gutierrez. I certainly hope we can carry our improved pace into the rest of the season.”
Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-04: Started P17, finished P12
“I’m gutted as my first points in Formula 1 were there for the taking. The car was good and I was driving well within myself in P10. I turned in the same as normal at turn four – I wasn’t hanging everything out and I was looking after the tyres – but for some reason I lost the car in a massive snap. I need to look at everything with my engineers to see if there is anything we could have done to prevent it. I was running tenth, we had completed all our pit stops, we had good pace relative to those ahead and behind so it looks like we’ve made a real step forward this weekend. It was the best drive of my career today and just one small spin took away those points. I’m gutted today but I’ll be fighting to get in the same position or better in Hockenheim.”
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal
“That was a strong race for us and illustrates the progress being made. It’s no secret that our primary focus has moved to next year’s car but we still have good potential to score in 2016. Both drivers did a very good job, but Jolyon’s performance was particularly notable after missing most of Friday’s running. His spin was unfortunate, especially as his first Formula 1 points were there for the taking. Overall the team and both drivers have worked very well this weekend and made a great recovery from the back of the grid in a race where there was only one retirement. We hope to continue this trajectory in Hockenheim.”
Red Bull Racing Round-up
Daniel Ricciardo finished in a superb third position despite a late attack from former team-mate Sebastian Vettel in the later stages of the 70-lap race. Although unable to make an impact on the Hamilton / Rosberg battle ahead – save for at the start of the race – Ricciardo was able to be comfortably the best of the rest after his third-placed start. Fourth-position starting Max Verstappen took fifth following race-long battles with Vettel and latterly Kimi Räikkönen