USA Grand Prix – Sunday 23rd October 2016. Austin, Texas

Renault Sport

Renault opted to split strategies, with Magnussen making a late charge into the pits for supersoft tyres. With fresher rubber the Dane was able to overcome the extra stop and pass team mate Palmer, who had appeared quicker for much of the race.  He also passed Kvyat in the closing stages but used the full width of the track and a bit more to do so, and as a result he received a five-second post-race time penalty.

Kevin Magnussen, 12th: “We started with the plan for a one-stop strategy but we quickly realized that it wasn’t the best option so we swapped to a two and finally a three-stop strategy. It was tougher on tyre wear than we predicted but that did mean I was able to have some fun at the end of the race on the super soft tyres – it was the most fun I’ve had in the car all season, being able to push hard to the chequered flag. It was a pretty decent race considering our qualifying position. The penalty is frustrating, but that’s racing sometimes.”

Jolyon Palmer, 13th: “I had a slow start and unfortunately lost a few places that allowed Kevin to pass me, which then meant I was on his gearbox for a good two-thirds of the race. We were really struggling to follow other cars and although I was quicker, I couldn’t get close enough to pass which was so frustrating. I could have tried to lunge but that’s not a clever thing to do between team-mates. In the end, I overheated my tyres trying to overtake and fell back a little bit.”

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal: “I’m in two minds about today’s Grand Prix. I’m happy we were able to adapt our strategy well as the race evolved, however at times our race pace was not as consistent as we’d like. In our first stint we didn’t seem to make good progress, yet at times we did see both cars deliver decent lap times considering their respective tyre conditions. We will be very vigilant in our post-race analysis to understand where we can better maximise our opportunities in the future. We finished just shy of the points today, but in the points is where we want to be.”

Pirelli

Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director: “With six different strategies within the top 10 positions, tyre strategies were working hard. The virtual Safety Car also made an impact notably on Daniel Ricciardo’s race, and allowing some drivers taking advantage of it to make a final pit stop and gain track position.”




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