The last race of the 2016 season gives a double finish for the Renault team.

• Renault Sport Formula One Team concluded its first FIA Formula 1 Championship season with seventeenth position for Jolyon Palmer and an early retirement from Kevin Magnussen.
• Renault Sport Formula One Team ended the year in ninth position in the Constructors’ Championship with Kevin Magnussen sixteenth and Jolyon Palmer eighteenth in the Drivers’ Championship.

Jolyon made a great start from P15 to end the first lap in eleventh position, however he struggled with tyre degradation later in the race. 

He also received a five-second penalty for contact made with Carlos Sainz. Kevin’s final race for the team saw contact made at turn eight on the first lap. 

He pitted for a front-wing change, however he retired shortly afterwards due to suspension damage as a result of the first lap incident. 

Renault Sport Formula One Team ended the year in ninth position in the Constructors’ Championship with Kevin Magnussen sixteenth and Jolyon Palmer eighteenth in the Drivers’ Championship.

Kevin started the race from P18 with new set of Pirelli’s soft compound tyres. He stopped at the end of the first lap to replace his front wing and receive a new set of soft tyres following contact at turn eight. He retired with five laps completed.

Jolyon started the race from P15 on a set of Pirelli’s ultra soft tyres. He made a storming start to P11, pitting for sets of new soft tyres on laps 7 and 21. He made a final stop on lap 41 for a fresh set of the super soft tyres. 

Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-04: Started P18, DNF

“I made a poor start then was in a fight with Kvyat at turn eight when I had contact from another car – I think it was a Manor or a Sauber – and my suspension was damaged by this. 

We tried to continue but it was clear that something was broken. It wasn’t the way I wanted to end what I thought was a good season with a great bunch of people. 

Results-wise it hasn’t been the best but I’ve learned a lot, I’ve had a great time with the team and I got to know a lot of really good people. 

I wish Renault Sport all the best in the future and I’m sure we’ll all still have fun in the paddock.”

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-05: Started P15, finished P17

“I had a really good start - up to eleventh - and was keeping pace with the Williams for a while, but unfortunately the tyre degradation was unbelievable for us. 

The overall pace was okay, but the tyres were running out, which meant I had to do three stops. I was trying to fight with everyone through the race but I had no grip which makes it very difficult. 

I tried to pass Carlos as he left a gap, but he braked a bit early and I had no grip to slow down. It’s a real shame.”

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

“That was not the Grand Prix we wanted to end our season. Kevin’s race was cut short as a result of front suspension damage sustained on the first lap then Jolyon’s great start didn’t translate to a great finish come the chequered flag. 

Today’s result should not detract from all the progress made at Viry and Enstone over the last year as we will be in a far better position to fight for more points next season. 

Thank you to Kevin in his final race for us, he is a popular driver and we wish him well for the future. Congratulations to this year’s champions, Nico Rosberg and Mercedes AMG. 

They have shown us how championships can be won with fine displays through the season. We hope to be giving them more of a challenge over the next few years.”

British Driver Jolyon Palmer retains his seat with Renault for the 2017 Season and is joined by Nico Hulkenberg.

Renault Sport Formula One Team is proud to announce that it will retain Jolyon Palmer for the 2017 season. Jolyon will join the recently-announced Nico Hülkenberg to complete the team’s 2017 race driver line-up.

Twenty-five year old Jolyon joined Renault Sport Formula One Team’s predecessor Lotus F1 Team as Third Driver at the start of the 2015 season, graduating to race driver for 2016 with Renault Sport Formula One Team. 

To date he has started 18 Grands Prix, scoring his first World Championship point at this year’s Malaysian Grand Prix. He is the 2014 GP2 Series Champion.

Jérôme Stoll, Renault Sport Racing Chairman said: “We are delighted to retain Jolyon as our driver for the 2017 season. Jolyon has shown his hunger to develop with us as the team grows and we have been impressed with his increasingly strong performances on track as the season has progressed. We are confident that the combination of Jolyon and Nico Hülkenberg offers a very promising driving force to meet our goals. Jolyon understands the team’s spirit and motivates everyone he works with. The line-up of Jolyon and Nico harnesses the benefits of continuity and fresh blood. I am sure that having Nico as a team-mate will help push Jolyon to greater achievements. We thank Kevin Magnussen for his efforts in 2016 as he has done a great job for us this year. We wish him all the best for 2017 and beyond.”

Jolyon Palmer said: “I’m over the moon to be racing with Renault Sport Formula One Team for a second season and I can’t wait to reward the team’s faith in me on track. Having worked out of Enstone since 2015 I can fully appreciate the development of the infrastructure this year. This means I share the excitement of the team looking to 2017 and our new car. For me, it’s been a steep learning curve driving in Formula 1 and I know that I am performing better than ever, and that there’s still more to come. There is tremendous drive and enthusiasm in Enstone and Viry looking to next year and I am honoured to be part of this.”

Both Renaults finish the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix with Palmer gaining spots whilst Magnussen drops.

• Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Jolyon Palmer put in a strong and strategic charge from the back of the grid to take fourteenth in Sunday’s Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix.
• Jolyon started P21 and made a pit stop under the safety car at the end of the first lap. This meant he used Pirelli’s medium compound tyres for a massive 70-lap stint.
• Kevin Magnussen started from P14 and his race strategy was modified from a one to a two-stop strategy, with a final stint on the super soft tyres.

Kevin started the race from P14 with new set of Pirelli’s soft compound tyres. He stopped on lap 12 for a new set of medium tyres, then stopped on lap 51 for a new set of the super soft compound tyres.

Jolyon started the race from P21 – gaining one position as Romain Grosjean vacated the spot to start from the pit lane. Jolyon pitted at the end of the first lap under safety car conditions to exchange his new super soft tyres for a new set of mediums, which he ran with until the chequered flag.

Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-04: Started P14, finished P17

“Last weekend a late stint on the super soft tyres worked really well for us but today it wasn’t the same story. We just didn’t seem to have the outright pace we needed on any of the tyres we used. It was a frustrating race for me. My first set of soft tyres dropped away as we expected but then we didn’t seem to be able to maintain the pace on the medium tyres so we changed strategy to the super softs, but by then we were too far behind. I’m hoping that we can have a much better race in Brazil.”

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-02: Started P21, finished P14

“I think fourteenth is as good as we could have got from starting at the back, so I’m happy! I had some really good fights with the McLaren guys, which was good fun, and 70 laps on one set of tyres is probably some sort of record… It was a bit of a challenge but in the end we were still going okay; we were quick enough to keep our competitors behind. All in all, I’m pretty happy with today.”

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

“Jolyon had a strong race where we made the most of an aggressive strategy and pitted him very early under the safety car. He drove 70 laps on the same set of tyres and was very consistent to finish in front of some of our nearest rivals. He put in a robust defence of his position, in particular against both Jenson and Fernando. It was a very strong race for him. Kevin had a puzzling race as he was well-placed at the start but he struggled for pace whatever the tyres. We’ll spend a lot of time checking the car and analysing the race to understand how we could have done better. For Brazil we certainly want both cars fighting for points."

Renault has the best race of the season with Palmer just missing out on his first points haul of the year.

Renault Sport Formula One Team driver Jolyon Palmer was a half-spin away from his first Formula 1 points as both he and Kevin Magnussen moved up the order in a hot and fast-paced Hungarian Grand Prix. Jolyon was running comfortably in P10 with strong pace relative to those around him when the rear of his R.S.16 stepped out at turn four. 

Despite catching the spin Jolyon was unable to recover the resultant lost positions. Nevertheless, he still finished P12 in a race he described as his ‘best-ever’. Kevin finished in P15 after starting from P19.

• Kevin started the race from P19 with a new set of Pirelli’s red supersoft tyres. He changed to new supersofts on lap 24 then new soft compound (yellow) tyres on lap 36.
• Jolyon started the race in P17 on new soft tyres. He changed to new supersofts on lap 26 then new softs on lap 39.

Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-01: Started P19, finished P15

"The car definitely felt better this weekend. I had a pretty decent stint on my first set of supersoft tyres; I was able to look after them well and do quite a few laps on that set. Unfortunately that was after a poor start where I lost a few positions. 

I’ve had really good practice starts all weekend so that was quite disappointing. From then on, we pushed to make up places but my second stint on supersoft didn’t go as well as I hoped and the last part of the race was spent behind Grosjean and Gutierrez. I certainly hope we can carry our improved pace into the rest of the season."

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-04: Started P17, finished P12

"I’m gutted as my first points in Formula 1 were there for the taking. The car was good and I was driving well within myself in P10. I turned in the same as normal at turn four - I wasn’t hanging everything out and I was looking after the tyres - but for some reason I lost the car in a massive snap. I need to look at everything with my engineers to see if there is anything we could have done to prevent it. I was running tenth, we had completed all our pit stops, we had good pace relative to those ahead and behind so it looks like we’ve made a real step forward this weekend. It was the best drive of my career today and just one small spin took away those points. I’m gutted today but I’ll be fighting to get in the same position or better in Hockenheim."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"That was a strong race for us and illustrates the progress being made. It’s no secret that our primary focus has moved to next year’s car but we still have good potential to score in 2016. Both drivers did a very good job, but Jolyon’s performance was particularly notable after missing most of Friday’s running. His spin was unfortunate, especially as his first Formula 1 points were there for the taking. Overall the team and both drivers have worked very well this weekend and made a great recovery from the back of the grid in a race where there was only one retirement. We hope to continue this trajectory in Hockenheim."

Red Bull Racing Round-up

Daniel Ricciardo finished in a superb third position despite a late attack from former team-mate Sebastian Vettel in the later stages of the 70-lap race. Although unable to make an impact on the Hamilton / Rosberg battle ahead - save for at the start of the race - Ricciardo was able to be comfortably the best of the rest after his third-placed start. Fourth-position starting Max Verstappen took fifth following race-long battles with Vettel and latterly Kimi Räikkönen.

Renault continues to have a dire season with a double retirement at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Renault Sport Formula One Team’s British Grand Prix came to a frustrating end with a double retirement. Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen stopped on lap 38 and 50 respectively both with suspected gearbox problems. 

The mixed track conditions presented scant opportunity for advancement from their P18 and P16 starting positions, with both Jolyon and Kevin caught in traffic before their retirements.

The race got underway behind the safety car following heavy rain on the grid. Kevin started the race from sixteenth on full wet tyres and stopped for Pirelli intermediate tyres on lap five. 

He held station behind his team-mate and Romain Grosjean’s Haas before a second stop to the medium compound slicks tyres on lap 17 while in sixteenth. He made a third stop to the soft tyres on lap 40 but retired 10 laps later with a suspected gearbox problem. He was running in sixteenth at the time.

Jolyon started on full wets from P18 and gained one position when the safety car was withdrawn. The Brit stopped on lap six for the intermediate tyres and closed the gap to Grosjean on the drying track. 

A second stop on lap 16 for medium tyres brought frustration, however, as he was released with only three of the four wheels. The resulting delay and penalty dropped him to the rear of the field. A retirement on lap 38 capped a disappointing day.

Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-01: Started P16, DNF

“In the first part of the race the track was very slippery and the balance was difficult as it was wet in places. You have to push from the beginning though and try to stay on track. We tried our best but unfortunately we were just not quick enough today. 

We suspected something might be wrong with the gearbox towards the end of the race so retired the car as a precaution. It’s just not been our day, but we’ll look through everything and come back stronger in Hungary.”

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-02: Started P18, DNF

“Today wasn’t the result I wanted for my home race. It was going reasonably well on the wet tyres at the beginning of the race and then we did a good stop for the intermediate tyres. 

Things were looking up: I got ahead of Kevin and I was catching Romain Grosjean. When I pitted for slick tyres, I had a green light to go but the rear right wasn’t finished and I’d already started to leave the box. 

From then on I lost about a minute and then received a 10 second penalty for unsafe release. What happened was unfortunate but it could happen to anyone up and down the pitlane. We retired the car as there was a strange feeling with the gearbox, more as a precaution as at that stage we were two laps down. 

We’ll now investigate the problem thoroughly. I’m looking forward to the test this week and focussing on the next race weekend.”

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

“Not the best Grand Prix in our history. It was a difficult race for us and we will be looking into what caused a double retirement. Both Kevin and Jolyon had been driving well until then, but our pace was not strong enough today.

The Canadian Grand Prix was not the best for the Renault team with one DNF and the other finished at P16.

Renault Sport Formula One Team contested a hard-fought Canadian Grand Prix with Kevin Magnussen finishing in sixteenth and Jolyon Palmer retiring due to a water leak. Kevin started from last position following Saturday’s liaison with the wall and ran to a one-stop strategy. 

Jolyon made a promising start however loss of water pressure meant the team had to retire the car with 16 laps completed.

Kevin started the race in P22 as one of only two runners starting on Pirelli’s yellow soft tyres. He changed to the purple ultrasoft tyres on lap 39.

Jolyon started the race in P16 on ultrasoft tyres. He retired from the race on lap 17 due to a water leak.

Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-01: Started P22, finished P16

“Firstly I need to say thanks to my crew who worked so hard to build a new chassis for this race after my crash Saturday. This aspect really shows the teamwork which exists in the team and I’m happy to be part of it as we will all keep pushing hard. On track we struggled and P16 is not where we wanted to be. It was a cold track out there and we just couldn’t get the performance we wanted. The race was pretty straightforward for me and sadly there weren’t the opportunities to move forward. We definitely want better next time out.”

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-02: Started P16, finished DNF

“The new engine was working well performance-wise and we made a lot of progress on the set-up; I was feeling good with the car out there even though it was cold and slippery. I received some contact from Carlos Sainz on the first lap then I was stuck behind one of the Manors early on, but once I was in clean air my pace felt good. I’m happy with the car so I’m looking forward to Baku. Certainly a little bit of luck wouldn’t go amiss too.”

Fred Vasseur, Racing Director

“Another weekend where all the team have all worked hard and progress has been made however it is not represented in the results. Jolyon has been much happier with his car this weekend and had decent potential in the race. It’s a great shame we had to retire him so early and we are investigating the cause of the water pressure loss. Kevin had it all to do from the back of the grid so delivered solidly given the circumstances. The cold conditions in Canada certainly haven’t suited us. Baku will be far hotter so we’re hoping for a much needed change of fortunes.”

Renault Formula One had a poor Monaco Grand Prix with both cars failing to finish.

Renault Sport Formula One Team suffered a disappointing double retirement from an eventful Monaco Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen showed promising progress with an early swap to intermediate tyres after a race start on full wet tyres behind the safety car. 

Kevin’s potential was ultimately undone by an unfathomable onslaught from a one-lap-down Daniil Kvyat. He continued to race but subsequently ended up in the barriers again and retired from the Grand Prix.

Jolyon Palmer’s race was far shorter, ending after aquaplaning into the barriers on the main straight, then into the barriers at Sainte Devote on the seventh lap.

• Kevin started the race in P16 on the full wet Pirelli tyres. He made a switch to the intermediate tyres on lap 7 then had a Kyvat-induced stop for a new front wing and replacement intermediates on lap 21. He later stopped for new super softs on lap 29 and new ultra softs and a further front wing on lap 32. He retired a lap later.
• Jolyon started the race in P18 on the full wet Pirelli tyres. He aquaplaned into the barriers and out of the race on lap 7.

Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-02: Started P16, DNF

“We had a good start to the race and made a really good strategic call to change to the intermediate tyres just after the safety car. We were the only ones to do it so early and it was the right decision.

We were in a good position as a lot of people were still to pit and we gained a lot of places. Unfortunately, Kvyat just lost his mind and crashed into me and that was effectively the end of my race. 

We did continue and made an early change to slicks as we had nothing to lose, but ultimately I hit the wall and damaged the front wing. We were several laps down at that point and the car had been in the wars so it was safer to retire. 

It’s a shame we didn’t have a good weekend as we were very optimistic for the race. Now we have to shift our focus to Canada and have a better weekend there. Montréal should be a stronger track for us and should play to the strengths of the updates for the car.”

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-03: Started P18, DNF

“The traction was appalling after the safety car and I got caught out. I had wheelspin in fifth gear on the white line that crosses the track. There was nothing I could do – I was just a passenger and went straight away into the wall. 

It’s so difficult as we know that the white lines are slippery but they are everywhere. I’m disappointed as I love this track and it’s been good for me in the past. But I’m now looking forward to Canada and putting this weekend behind me. 

Monaco hasn’t been good to me this year so we need to move on to the next race and look for a better weekend.”

Fred Vasseur, Racing Director

“It was a tough weekend for both cars. Jolyon’s race ended on the straight as soon as the race got underway. He had a pretty serious shunt, a fast one, and that put an end to his day; there was nothing to be done. 

For Kevin, he asked to swap to intermediates pretty early in the race which was a good call, despite suffering from being in traffic for a while. 

His race effectively ended thanks to the incident with Kvyat which is a shame especially as there may have been something to be done from where he was ranked as we had a strategy that was slightly out of step from everyone else’s. In any case, we’ll go lick our wounds and move our focus to Canada.”

Renault gains it's first points haul at the Russian GP at Sochi, with both drivers finishing better than they started.

• Kevin started the race in P17 on new super soft Pirelli tyres, changing to a set of soft tyres on lap 16.
• Jolyon started the race in P18 on new super soft tyres, changing to fresh soft tyres on lap 14.

Kevin Magnussen, #20, R.S.16-02: Started P17, finished P7

“It feels really good to get these points for the team as I know how hard everyone’s been working this season. I made a great start, but then lost a couple of positions at the first corner because of a spin in front of me. After that I was pushing hard for the entire race, made some good overtakes and I had a great pit stop from the crew. We were a bit lucky today; we’ve been unlucky in the past so I’ve certainly no complaints!”

Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-01: Started P18, finished P13

“It’s great for the team to get our first points of the season and I’m pleased that we’re making genuine progress with the car. Kevin showed what is possible today so that’s a good target for the next races. Overall we’ve learnt a lot of positives this weekend so I feel there’s a lot to build on for the races ahead.”

Fred Vasseur, Racing Director

“After the Chinese Grand Prix everyone dug deep so to finish strongly in the top ten at a circuit where we didn’t expect to excel is a testament to the resolve of everyone in the team. Kevin drove a superb race and there was nothing more we could ask of him. Jolyon didn’t get quite the same opportunities in his race but drove well too. A big thank you to everyone at Enstone and Viry for their continued efforts.”