Palmer: If Magnussen turned down Renault it's a mistake

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Jolyon Palmer says Kevin Magnussen has made a mistake to leave Renault for Haas if he turned down an offer from the French manufacturer.

Magnussen agreed to join Haas last week and was officially named a Haas driver on Friday, replacing Esteban Gutierrez. Renault announced 48 hours earlier that Palmer would be staying with the team, but Magnussen then claimed he turned down an offer to stay at Enstone as he didn't feel the team showed enough commitment.

Asked if he was perturbed to hear Renault offered Magnussen a deal before himself, Palmer replied: “I probably shouldn’t… I’m surprised to hear that, to be honest.

"I think if Renault turned to Kevin then he’s made a mistake to turn it down because I think they’ll be ahead of Haas next year. It’s a manufacturer team going places. If you get the choice to go to Red Bull for one year it’s better than going to Toro Rosso for two years.

"I’m not sure that’s definitely the case, but anyway I don’t care because I’m in the seat for next year and nothing changes for me. So it’s fine.”

And Palmer says he doesn't mind having to prove himself at Renault next season, even though the initial contract length is for just one year.

“Yeah but I have an option for the future. I need to do a good job next year, it’s understandable for Renault that next year they want to still see how I can do against Nico.

"But I have an option for the future, I believe in myself and in my opinion the car is going to strong next year - stronger - and then it’s up to me to do a good job and then I have an option with Renault for the future. So I believe in myself, do a good job and then I’ll be part of the future.”

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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.