Magnussen to race spare Renault chassis in Monza

Should he be deemed fit to race in this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen will have to use his spare Renault chassis at Monza given how badly damaged his car was in Belgium last Sunday.

The Dane suffered a 42G crash on the exit of Eau Rouge during the race, and was immediately sent to the hospital to undergo a series of precautionary exams that revealed a bruised ankle.

Magnussen had further checks at home and feels ready to compete though his participation is pending the FIA’s green light following a medical procedure scheduled for this Thursday.

While the 23-year-old quickly recovered from the shunt, the same can not be said about his R.S.16.

“The accident was clearly sizeable and the damage sustained is too great to use the car for Italy,” Renault’s chassis technical director Nick Chester said. “The current spare will become Kevin’s car in Monza and we will take another chassis out as a spare.”

Renault had modest ambitions before taking the power-hungry Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps but ended having one of its better weekends performance wise, running well into the top 10 before Magnussen’s accident. Chester hopes this positive display bodes well for the upcoming race.

“We were cautious going into Belgium as we knew it was a big power track that places a lot of demands on the car. However we performed competitively in qualifying after building up performance each session.

“It demonstrates that the car is working well at most track configurations now so we can go to Monza expecting to do a reasonable job.”

Scene at the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix

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