Magnussen: I’ve always been fast in Monaco

Kevin looks to the glitz and glamour of Monaco

By Franck Drui

21 May 2016 - 15:15
Magnussen: I've always been (...)

On Monaco…

Monaco is always a nice experience, the circuit is awesome to drive and the event is one of the most spectacular of the season. There’s a great history of Formula 1 there and the whole experience is great.

On the Monaco parties…

Of course you’re aware of all the parties going on but when you’re there to race that is where your focus is. You can’t go mad over a race weekend, you just have to go to bed and know that there’s plenty of opportunity to party other times when you’re not at a race. I’ll happily miss a great party if it means I get to race a Formula 1 car around Monaco.

First experience of Monaco…

My first experience of driving Monaco was in a World Series by Renault car and I was so excited. It’s just awesome – there’s no other word – as it amazes you how narrow it is and busy you are over the course of a lap. I felt like I knew it so well from watching Formula 1 on television so many times before driving it myself, but there’s nothing like driving Monaco.

Previous results…

I’ve always been fast there but I haven’t had the results to show it. The best is yet to come.

On the Spanish Grand Prix…

I was pretty gutted as I was pushing so hard for the entire race and yet the performance wasn’t coming. There was a good opportunity after the crash on the first lap to move forward through the field, yet we weren’t able to do so. We couldn’t see anything on the data that was wrong with the car, so you start asking if the tyres aren’t in their working range or is there some other issue? After the race the team discovered that the steering rack was damaged from contact with the kerbs which meant the handling was unpredictable and explained why I wasn’t able to get the performance I expected. I didn’t stop pushing though, especially after we made a late stop for a fresh set of tyres.

On pushing right to the end…

You need to keep pushing right to the end of the race, even if it looks like you’re a long way from the points. You never know what could happen ahead; someone could fail to finish, there could be an accident between your rivals or a driver could get disqualified. Every position counts.

On Testing

It was interesting being part of the team when Esteban was driving as I spent time with my engineers and listening to the radio. It was more interesting when I was in the car and it was fabulous to have over 120 laps to enjoy the latest specification power unit and help the team understand so many new parts for the car. We made good progress on many fronts so I’m looking forward to seeing these developments on the car in the coming races.

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