Back on starting grid

Renault announced the Formula One comeback of Danish driver Kevin Magnussen at the launch of a new-look team that will put the French carmaker back on the starting grid as a constructor.

Magnussen, whose F1 career appeared to have stalled after he spent last year on the sidelines and then got cast aside by McLaren, has replaced Pastor Maldonado after the Venezuelan’s funding dried up.

He will partner British rookie Jolyon Palmer, whose signing was announced last year by the team when they were racing as Lotus F1. Frenchman Frederic Vasseur will run day-to-day operations as racing director.

Renault bought back the team, which they had sold at the end of 2009 after winning championships with Spaniard Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006, last December.

They will now compete under the Renault Sport Formula One name, with Renault branding prominent, along with that of the Infiniti luxury marque, which is part of the Renault-Nissan alliance.

“We are not here (just) to participate ... we are here to compete at the highest level and eventually win,” Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn said at the company’s Technocentre at Guyancourt outside Paris.

“It’s not going to happen in 2016 ... it’s going to take more time,” Ghosn said. He set a target of podium appearances in the next three years.

He said Renault’s strategic aim was to integrate Formula One into a new comprehensive motorsport programme to boost the image of the brand and establish clear synergies between sport and road cars.

Magnussen, 23, made an impressive debut with McLaren in 2014 when he took second place in his first race in Australia. But he had to drop back to a reserve role in 2015 when double champion Fernando Alonso arrived.

He was let go by McLaren in October, at a time when most teams had set their line-ups. The news came in an email that Magnussen got on his birthday.

Palmer was the 2014 champion in the GP2 feeder series and a regular in Friday practice as reserve driver last season, but Renault will still have one of the sport’s least experienced line-ups when the season starts in Australia on March 20.

French youngster Esteban Ocon, winner of last year’s GP3 junior series, will be the test and reserve driver.

The British-based team, who finished sixth overall in 2015 after struggling financially, also announced a change of livery with the car presented in black and yellow colours.

Vasseur, who nurtured the budding talents of drivers like triple champion Lewis Hamilton when he ran the successful ART outfit in GP2, will run the team day-to-day. Cyril Abiteboul, who was once principal of the now-defunct Caterham team, retains his previous job of managing director Renault Sport.

Magnussen also thanked Renault for saving his Formula One career in a deal that was put together in recent weeks and finalised only last Tuesday.

“This is a massive opportunity,” Magnussen said. “Not many drivers get a second chance and I’ve been given a second chance and a proper chance. I can’t say how happy I am.

“Two years out would have been the end. If you are world champion or something, you might be able to (come back) but in my position, being out for two years would have been the end of my Formula One career. This was really ‘make or break’. Luckily, I made it.”

Two years ago, the son of ex-F1 racer Jan seemed destined for a dazzling career with one of the sport’s great teams after finishing runner-up in his debut grand prix for McLaren in Australia.

No McLaren driver has stood on the grand prix podium since then, excluding the high jinks of Fernando Alonso – the man who replaced him in the line-up – and Jenson Button in Brazil last year when they stepped up just for a photograph.

Magnussen batted away a loaded question about whether he was happy to be away from McLaren’s Woking factory, saying only that he was pleased to be a part of a new team and his former employers had played no part in the deal.

He felt far more relaxed, however. “I felt a lot of pressure the first time around with McLaren. I feel pressure now but in a much more positive way. I actually feel more ready,” he said.

Winning a race may be a distant dream for a team picking itself up after a tough year fraught with financial difficulties, but Magnussen was optimistic.

“I’m here for this year for sure and the future is open,” he added. “My ambition is to be with this team when we start winning.

“I think it’s important to be realistic about where we are. It is a completely new set-up. But Renault has done this before. We will take it race-by-race but push as hard as we can.”

Renault face a year of rebuilding, British driver Palmer added. The rookie, son of ex-racer Jonathan Palmer, did not try to put a gloss on the situation.

“It’s not going to be an easy year rebuilding from what was Lotus. It’s impossible to say right now where we are going to be on the grid,” he said. “I’ve got a back-to-back (view) with how Lotus were last year. It was very tough. They were struggling to make all the races at the end of the year, trying to get money in from anywhere they could.”

Lotus had their cars impounded by bailiffs after the Belgian Grand Prix and were locked out of the paddock hospitality in Japan due to unpaid bills.

At the season’s Abu Dhabi finale, the cars were not allowed into the paddock until payments were forthcoming. Little money was spent on development of the 2015 car, with knock-on consequences for 2016.

Renault finally bought the team in December.

Palmer said 2015 had been ‘on the limit’: “There were a lot of times where we turned up and couldn’t get in the garage, we didn’t have the kit, we had no idea what was going to happen.

“In fairness, we managed to get through all the races which was an achievement considering the money that was being spent or owed at that time. They had to do what they had to do ... it ended up being quite messy.”

Palmer said he felt sorry for Maldonado but pleased for the Dane and his own response would be to make the most of every opportunity in a fickle sport.

“Everyone’s watching you ... you have to be a ruthless person and look out for yourself a lot. If you don’t you are going to get spat out,” he said. “I fully realise that I’ve got to make the most of it this year. Treat every year as if it could be your last. I can’t leave anything on the table. I’ve got to hit the ground running in Melbourne.”

The season starts in Australia on March 20 and the F1 roadshow returns to Bahrain for the next grand prix on April 3.