Renault: Palmer beats Magnussen again in Austin
In a qualifying session that was still very close at the bottom of the grid, Jolyon Palmer was the only one of the two Renault drivers to advance to Q2. Kevin Magnussen will start from 18th on the grid.
The battle for tenths cost Renault dearly, and more particularly Kevin Magnussen, yesterday during the qualifying session of the United States Grand Prix at the Austin circuit.
The Dane is inevitably disappointed with his 18th place finish: « We did not qualify where we hoped, so it’s quite frustrating. Yesterday, the car performed very well, so we did not change the settings. However, my feelings were very different once on track. We were not as strong as yesterday, so it means we need to work to understand what happened. »
Magnussen tries to remain positive: “We should have a good race pace, and it’s a circuit where overtaking is possible. It’s not impossible for us to achieve a decent result.”
But as is customary at this end of the season, Jolyon Palmer performed better than his teammate yesterday, enough to satisfy the Briton even if his fastest lap was not perfect, as confirmed by Alan Permane, the team’s technical director: « Jolyon put in a great effort by qualifying in Q2 thanks to his first flying lap in Q1. With a perfect lap, he could have done even better than fifteenth. »
But Palmer believes he has maximized what his car could offer him this Saturday: “I think I have exploited almost the entire potential of the car, it’s my best qualifying in a long time, and I feel very good! I only did one good lap in Q1, then only one in Q2, but those two attempts were pretty good, and I am happy with this fifteenth place,” the Briton stated.
