Kevin Magnussen has confirmed Renault’s works team has already shifted much of its focus on the 2017 car, and admitted that the squad “won’t be changing the world” this year.
Magnussen is the author of the sole point-scoring finish of Renault’s return campaign as a factory team so far: a seventh place in Sochi.
And, after a series of frustrating Grands Prix for the squad, the Dane has said that a lot of the French manufacturer’s attention is already on 2017, when the new regulations will arrive.
Asked by Motorsport.com whether the focus was now on 2017, Magnussen said: “Surely, a lot of the focus has shifted.
“There’s still stuff that you can use for both – stuff you learn on the ’17 car. Some of the stuff, more the technical stuff, some of that can go on this year’s car. So there will be improvements.”
“I don’t think we’ll be changing the world this year he noted.
“It’s going to be, hopefully, this year or the years after that we’re going to be catching up. There is this rule change next year, that everyone has to shift focus for.
“So I think, this season won’t be changing much for anyone for the rest of the year.”
Magnussen admitted to frustration over not being in a winning car, but said he believes he will get the chance to fight at the front in the future.
“I mean, I had a year out of racing completely, so I’m just happy to be racing – but it’s not a secret, for sure, that it’s frustrating,” he said.
“I hate seeing people winning. I wanna win. It’s massively frustrating, not really being in a position to win.
“But I have a lot of faith that I will be in that situation one day and I’m doing the work now to make that happen. I have a goal – I’m working towards those goals at the moment.”
The Dane also conceded that, unless the first-ever Baku race proved to be a particularly hectic affair, the Renault stood little chance of scoring points.
“I think, with no safety cars or extraordinary things, crashes – just pace-wise, we’re around P15, 14 maybe,” he said.
“It’s difficult when nothing happens – and nothing really happened in Canada.
“It doesn’t look like we’re going to do a million stops, so there’s not much you can do on strategy. I think most people will be in at similar times, most people will have the same stop planned.
“If we’re not lucky or if we don’t really get it right with a different strategy – if we don’t have any luck, if it’s just a normal race, we won’t score points at the moment.”
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