Kevin Magnussen was happy with his qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, and will start the race on Sunday from twelfth on the grid.
The Renault Sport F1 driver has been struggling to finish high during the practice sessions, with his highest place being fourteenth, but he continued to improve his pace though which allowed him to qualify in twelfth, two places ahead of team-mate Jolyon Palmer.
Even though Magnussen struggled in his fastest timed lap, after locking up in Turn 1 he still managed to achieve a decent time after pushing for the rest of the lap. A time of 1:48.485 allowed him to qualify twelfth in front of the Haas F1 of Esteban Gutierrez, and with this pace on Saturday, the Dane believes there is still more there and sees this as encouragement ahead of the Grand Prix on Sunday.
“Today we found a lot more pace than expected and that’s a nice surprise, obviously,” said Magnussen.
“My lap wasn’t even perfect; I really locked up in Turn 1 and lost a lot of time. I thought it was over, but pushed for the rest of the lap and got a decent time in. Even though we are P12, I think there was a little bit more in it and that’s encouraging for the race tomorrow.”
