Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRenault

Magnussen: Renault 'just around the points'

Kevin Magnussen believes Renault is "just around the points" at present and would class finishing in the top ten as a good weekend in Australia.

The Danish driver completed over 100 laps for the third day in a row at the start of the final test, setting the 10th quickest time on soft tyres. With only one day left in the car before the first race, when asked if he can set a target for the opening round in Melbourne on March 20, Magnussen replied: “I think we are just around the points, maybe just outside.

"I think if we can get points from Melbourne I think that is a good weekend.”

Magnussen believes the midfield battle is shaping up to be especially tight, with a number of teams appearing to be closely matched.

"We are running different tyres, some are on mediums and some are on softs so it is difficult really to say where we are yet but it does look quite tight around the midfield and quite close. Hopefully it will be really close and we can make a difference.”

And Magnussen says he feels comfortable heading in to the first race even if he was to get little running on Wednesday.

“Yes last year was difficult because I did like 25-30 laps and then the car broke so I had to go to Melbourne. Luckily the car broke after no laps! So it was tough.

"This is a completely different situation. I’ve had a month or two to prepare with the team ahead of the season which I didn’t have last year. I feel ready now to go to a race. There is always more you can do in testing and you always want to learn more but I feel comfortable going into the races now.”

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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.