McLaren Young Driver Development star finishes fourth in Monaco
Danish star and McLaren Young Development Driver Programme member Kevin Magnussen extended his Formula Renault 3.5 championship lead by 10 points with a strong performance on the streets of Monaco.
Magnussen entered this weekend with a four-point lead in the championship but after finishing fourth today, the Danes lead is now out to 14 points after three rounds and five races.
The World Series by Renault DAMS driver started fourth in todays race. Thursdays qualifyng was split into two groups and Magnussen was second fastest in Group A to put him on the second row of the grid.
He lost a spot at the start to Carlos Sainz Jr. but the championship leader hounded the Spaniard to make the only genuine passing move of the race - pouncing on a mistake by Sainz at the second part of the swimming pool chicane to move through at Rascasse.
Magnussen then held off Antonio Felix da Costa in the later stages to be fourth across the line.
The Dane now tops the title race with 75 points ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne on 61 and todays race winner, Nico Mueller on 45.
The World Series by Renault Formula Renault 3.5 championship teams have little time to rest after Monaco with the cars headed straight to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium next weekend.
Magnussen earned his first ever series pole positions (he scored both in the wet and dry for Saturday and Sunday) and his first victory at Spa last year.
Q: How pleased are you with the result today?
A: Today was a very good result when you look at the championship - it was a good day.
It could have been a lot better, but it certainly could have been a lot worse.
It was a little disappointing to not be on the podium or win, but to extend the lead in the championship is obviously a good thing.
Q: How big a challenge is the Monaco weekend?
A: The track changes a lot from when we first run on Thrusday morning, to qualifying on Saturday morning and the race on Sunday.
Thats where we went a little bit wrong this weekend. There is so little track time and the times we get to be on track are so spread out over the four days.
The track changes so much during the event. Any track does but that is even more so on a street circuit when they open the track for normal traffic at the end of the day.
We didnt quite get it right this weekend. We werent going to win the race but still fourth place isnt something you are going to be really happy with.
But in terms of the championship, it was good to score strong points so that was awesome.
Q: Is passing in a Formula Renault 3.5 car just as hard as what the F1 guys experience?
A: I only made one passing move during the race todayit is still very difficult pass here no matter what you are driving.Monaco is a race that obviously every driver wants to win so I cant say Im completely happy.
Q: How much are you looking forward to next weekend at Spa-Francorchamps?
A: The guys at DAMS dont have a lot of time to prepare the car for Spa-Francorchamps this weekend so to finish today without any damage is great.
I think we can go to Spa and be very strong. Last year I managed to get pole position in both the wet and dry and take my first Formula Renault 3.5 win.
Im pretty certain we should be very quick. It will be all about taking care of the championship again, but if we can take a victory well certainly give it a shot.
