Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRenault

Magnussen, Palmer and Ocon confirmed at Renault

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Kevin Magnussen has been been confirmed as a Renault driver at a launch of the returning F1 team in Paris.

Following weeks of speculation regarding Pastor Maldonado's future with the former Lotus team, Magnussen was unveiled alongside the team's new car - the RS16 - in Paris on Wednesday. The Dane will partner Jolyon Palmer who was announced as one of the team's drivers late last year.

GALLERY: Renault RS16 livery

The Renault drive represents a second chance for Magnussen, who was dropped by McLaren at the end of last season. The 23-year-old had been demoted from a race seat to reserve driver in 2015 despite scoring a podium on his debut in Australia two years ago.

Frenchman Esteban Ocon has also been confirmed as Renault's reserve driver after new Renault racing director Frederic Vasseur managed to negotiate Ocon's release from a Mercedes contract. Ocon was GP3 champion last year, just one year after securing the European F3 title.

Maldonado confirmed on Monday he had lost his seat following issues between Renault and Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.