Giving Renault more time shows my loyalty - Magnussen

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Kevin Magnussen says he has shown his loyalty to Renault by agreeing to extend a deadline on his contract option by two weeks.

The Dane is waiting to learn if Renault will retain him for 2017, with the team weighing up its options with regards to its future driver line-up. Having said he doesn't understand the reasons for Renault's delay in making a decision in Malaysia, Magnussen says extending the deadline until October 14 is a sign of how committed he is to the team.

"I think it shows very clearly that I want to continue here," Magnussen said. "That’s what I wanted to signal and say that I am willing to wait and I understand the situation that is going on. It’s very clear that I believe that this team will go very far and I hope I can continue here for a long time.

“I didn’t have to give them the extension. We’ve had good dialogue, positive conversations and I know what the situation is, more or less. So I’ve given them more time to get things sorted.”

And Magnussen hopes a decision will not be taken purely on money, as he acknowledges some other drivers on the market come with more substantial backing than he does.

“It’s hard to know what’s going on sometimes but I think as ever Formula One is a commercial sport and it’s not a secret that my commercial value is a bit lower than perhaps other drivers.

"I have very good partnerships and sponsors and I’m very grateful for their support but some of the other drivers have an unbelievable amount of support. So hopefully I will be judged and the decision will be taken on talent and not on money.”

When asked by F1i if the extension came with a guarantee that a decision will be made by the new deadline, Magnussen replied: “I’ve given them the two weeks and hopefully there will be a decision by the end of those two weeks.”

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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.