Magnussen: 'We knew 2016 would be a tough year'

Kevin Magnussen has said that he always expected his first season at Renault would be hard and at times frustrating work, with much of the team's focus inevitably being on bouncing back from financial near-death in 2015.

"We knew it was going to be a tough year, because the car that Renault took over from Lotus was very underdeveloped," he said.

"I would say it has matched the expectation.

"It was going to be a transition year, where the focus was on the future and not so much on this year in terms of performance, so I think we’ve got out of it what we could.

"Renault, at the beginning of the year, was behind on engine power; so going from a Mercedes engine to a Renault was a little bit of a step back.

"Renault has done a great job to improve the engine. We’ve got more out of the car but haven’t really improved it in terms of getting more downforce, because the focus has been on next year’s car back at the factory."

Magnussen himself is hoping to benefit from all the hard work he's put in this year by retaining his seat at the team for a second season, which would see him racing alongside the newly-signed Nico Hulkenberg.

"I hope I can stay on as his team-mate," said Magnussen. "That’s my target and that’s what I hope is going to happen.

"Hopefully it won’t be too long before we will be able to announce what’s going to happen – either/or – so we’ll just do this race and focus on driving and enjoying my time in the car and we’ll see what happens."

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