Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Magnussen keen to learn from Alonso

Kevin Magnussen says he is looking forward to learning from Fernando Alonso in his new role as reserve driver at McLaren this season.

Having raced alongside Jenson Button in 2014, Magnussen was demoted to a reserve role as McLaren brought in the double world champion from Ferrari. While Magnussen raced in Australia, Alonso returned to the car in Malaysian and the Dane says he will be using his new role to try and learn as much as possible from the two race drivers.

“There’s a lot to learn, especially with the two drivers we have,” Magnussen said. “Fernando and Jenson are the most experienced drivers in the paddock so there’s a huge amount to learn from them. It’s very interesting listening to their feedback and the way they set up the car and work with the engineers. There’s loads to learn.”

Asked specifically about his relationship with Alonso, Magnussen says he is yet to spend a huge amount of time with the Spaniard.

“I don’t know him so well yet. I don’t really know him, but he’s a fast driver and there’s a huge amount to learn from him. For me it’s really good to be able to watch him closely and I will just do everything I can to sort of learn as much as possible … He’s definitely one of the best.”

Click here for a more lighthearted look at some of the scenes from the Malaysian Grand Prix

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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.