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A countryman of F1 returnee Kevin Magnussen has defended the Dane's performance at the recent Australian grand prix. Jolyon Palmer, a rookie and Magnussen's teammate at Renault, has been quoted as saying out-qualifying and then beating the former McLaren driver to the chequered flag on debut is a boost to his confidence.
But Jason Watt, a Dane and former F3000 driver, told Ekstra Bladet newspaper that he thinks therefore declaring Briton Palmer the Renault team leader on the basis of Australia is wrong. "Renault regards its drivers as equals -- it is unnecessary to have one of them as the leader," he insisted. "Right now I see Kevin as better than Palmer anyway. It was a minor driving error that cost Kevin in qualifying, but at all other times he was faster," Watt added.
"The most impressive for me was Kevin's ability to run fast and reliably on worn tyres, which was not his strength in 2014," he said, referring to Magnussen's single season with McLaren two years ago. "In the last part of the race I think Kevin showed what the difference between the two drivers really is -- I think he was 0.3 to 0.5 seconds faster than Palmer on an average lap," added Watt.
But he also warned that Magnussen and Palmer have a bigger picture to think about in 2016, as Renault regards the season as a building year for the future. "The problem for both of them is that one of them will probably have to make space (in 2017) for Esteban Ocon, who is really fast," said Watt. (GMM)
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (3)
Login to replyElmgreen
Posts: 23
As a dane im probably biased, but so are the english jornalists rating Palmer on skysports 9/10,- which only Grosjan got aswell with Magnussen getting 7/10 (as i recall). What do you guys say, whos the better driver here. Yeah JP defended well against TR, but i think they (Renault) actually have a quite competitive car. Who do you rate the highest. Cant seem to find any objective opinions about the two drivers skills vs each other. I guess season will tell, im just glad it looked like Mag seems to have learned to manage hes tyres on the longer stints, which was what he was lacking compared to JB in 2014.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
As a fellow scandinavian I might also be a bit biased on this, but I'd say Magnussen is the better driver of the two as of yet, but they could be a close match. ;) KMag was just really unlucky, starting off with a blown tyre and ending the race with a blown engine. The Renault car do look more competitive than I expected, I must say, probably inferior to the Toro Rosso, but adequate. However, 2 PUs (including Red Bull's Kvyat's TAG-branded Renault unit) failing on race 1 is a bit worrying, the same can be said for Ferrari's 2 units. Outside of F1 Palmer have more merits, I think, but otherwise the two should be a close match. Magnussen had a great role model in Button, who is really good at developing cars, tyre saving, wet racing, and so on, and KMag has definitely grown since 2014, an already quite impressive season.
Pompey
Posts: 84
Good grief, it's only one race, not the championship. They will both show their strengths and weaknesses over the season.