Kevin Magnussen believed his Renault Sport F1 team did better than expected in qualifying at Silverstone on Saturday after the Dane was able to make it through to Q2 despite seeing quick lap times deleted due to track limit offences.
Magnussen saw his first lap time removed from the records for putting all four wheels off course at Copse Corner, and although he pushed the limits of the track on his final run, it was just enough to move through into Q2, even if it used up all the available tyres to him.
“We had three sets of tyres that we used for Q1 knowing that if we got through to Q2 we wouldn’t be able to fight for much higher: our maximum today was P16 and Q2,” said Magnussen.
“On my first set of tyres I went wide and over the track limits, which meant that I had my lap time deleted. On my third and final run I know that I didn’t run wide.
“Then, for Q2, I didn’t have any new tyres so we went out and tried our maximum for the run in that second session. We extracted the most out of the car today in terms of set-up and using the tyres.
“To make it into Q2 is probably more than we’d expected so I’m more than happy that the team is fighting as it does.”
