2016 Formula 1
2016 Australian Grand Prix : RENAULT SPORT FORMULA ONE TEAM BEGINS ITS FORMULA 1 JOURNEY WITH A SOLID DEBUT
By • 2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, SundayMELBOURNE – Renault Sport Formula One Team began its Formula 1 journey with a solid debut at Albert Park, as Jolyon Palmer led Kevin Magnussen across the line to finish just shy of the points.Jolyon drove a mature race despite it being his personal Grand Prix debut, withstanding late-race pressure to finish eleventh. Kevin was unlucky with a first lap puncture, but fought back and showed particularly strong race pace on his final stint, finishing twelfth.◾Kevin started the race in P14 on new super soft tires, changing to a set of fresh soft tires after his first lap puncture, then new medium tires on lap 16, just before the red flag period.◾Jolyon started the race in P13 on new super soft tires, changing to fresh soft tires on lap 12 then new medium tires during the red flag period on lap 18.Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-02: Started P14, finished P12'We have a really good car; the pace is strong, as is the baseline set-up. It's something we can continue to work from and evolve to gain more performance. Today was pretty tough at the start, as I was really gutted about the puncture. I don't think I had any contact so it was really unfortunate. You never want to see a red flag incident, and it's a positive statement that Fernando could walk away from that dramatic crash, but the restart did benefit us. Our pace after the restart was very promising so I'm excited for the next races.'Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-01: Started P13, finished P11'I think the team has done an incredible job this weekend to qualify in Q2 and then finishing the race in eleventh and twelfth; it's the maximum we could expect to achieve. It's a good start, we were so close to scoring points, and we can move forward from here. The race itself was busy but good fun; I absolutely loved being wheel to wheel again after a year out of racing. It was great to be back in the fray and it all went pretty smoothly for me. Happy days.'Fred Vasseur, Racing Director'Today was very encouraging for the team as we showed good race pace and a good base to build on. We need to take a look at our qualifying pace to get us further up the grid and hopefully start to get some good results as it would have been much better to score points today! Both Kevin and Jolyon did a very good job, it was a shame to have Kevin suffer from a puncture but the rest of the afternoon went well, especially for a first race.'Bob Bell, Chief Technical Officer'It was a very credible first race from the team with everyone gelling and performing at a high standard. We had a trouble-free weekend, made the most out of the new qualifying format then the race was managed well with the only upset being Kevin's puncture. Both drivers drove well and the car even looked a little racier than expected. We didn't score points today but we weren't far off. That's definitely the next target.'About Infiniti Infiniti Motor Company Ltd. is headquartered in Hong Kong with sales operations in over 50 countries. The Infiniti brand was launched in 1989. Its range of premium automobiles is currently built in manufacturing facilities in Japan, the United States, United Kingdom and China. Infiniti plans to also expand manufacturing into Mexico by 2017.Infiniti design studios are located in Atsugi-Shi near Yokohama, London, San Diego and Beijing.Infiniti is in the middle of a major product offensive. The brand has been widely acclaimed for its daring design and innovative driver-assistance technologies.From the 2016 season, Infiniti is a technical partner of the Renault Sport Formula One team, contributing its expertise in hybrid performance.