Kevin Magnussen: Renault is 'not fast enough to win'
After a frustrating Australian Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen says the Renault RS16 chassis is a solid starting point for the 2016 season.
The Dane's race was spoiled by a first-lap puncture, resulting in going a lap down early. He was able to get the lap back under the red flag for Fernando Alonso's violent crash and managed to finish 12th.
"I think we have a really good car," Magnussen said. "It's not fastest enough to win, or get on the podium, or even to get into Q3. But I think it's a good base, a good structure of the car, and it's something we can continue to work on. We don't need to change anything; we don't need a new philosophy. This is what we have, it's good, and we can work on it."
Regarding his race in Australia, Magnussen said: "It was pretty tough. It was annoying to get the puncture in the beginning; I don't think I had any contact, so it was unfortunate. I was lucky to get the red flag, and it was lucky that Fernando [Alonso] wasn't hurt first of all -- it looked a bit crazy.
"So I was lucky to get onto the back of the grid, and we just had a good race from there. I think if that would have been the race we had we would have been happy, but obviously really gutted with the puncture."
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