Don't expect 'massive step', Magnussen warns

Kevin Magnussen has warned Renault's power unit upgrade is unlikely to provide a "massive step" as the team looks to introduce it as soon as possible.

Renault was originally going to introduce its B-spec power unit in Canada, but following a positive test in Barcelona there is the potential for the update to be used in Monaco next weekend. Magnussen says it is a sign of the progress being made by Renault but says consistent points are likely to still be out of reach.

"I don’t think it is going to be a massive, massive step," Magnussen said. "Hopefully it is an improvement and we can get closer to being regular point scorers - that is becoming the goal to finish off regularly in the points and not luck into it, as we did in Russia.

"We need to be fast enough to get to Q3 and if we can finish tenth in qualifying and finish tenth in the race, then it would be a good way to finish the year."

However, Magnussen says the power unit upgrade is the first clear sign of Renault's increasing productivity after the team started rebuilding this year.

"There is loads of stuff happening in the background and planning for the future, big plans, which isn’t really visible at the moment. There is some good stuff coming."

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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.