Magnussen: Singapore points a boost for Renault

After a difficult campaign, with the French car manufacturer paying the price for the lack of development under previous Lotus owners, the team had failed to score since the Russian GP in May.

But a brilliant drive in Singapore by Magnussen, who is hoping to prove to his bosses that he deserves a fresh contract for next season, added to its points tally.

And for Magnussen, the execution of the race was so 'perfect' that he felt it deserved to be a drive worthy of a win rather than just a single point.

"For the whole team, it must be a boost for all of us," said the Dane. "It has been a tough season we all know that, and it is obvious it is tough. But results like this show we should fight and never give up.

"The team nailed the strategy with the start and the balance of the car. And to drive a race like this and not win, it feels strange as it felt perfect.

"But this is a tough year and a transition year that we must get through to achieve bigger things in the future."

Magnussen admitted that after recent competitive struggles, he had not expected to be in with a shot of points last weekend.

"I didn't expect to be able to score a point," he said. "I thought there might be a chance of something happening at the start with the safety car, as that is the name at this track – it is a race where the safety car has been out every race since the start here. So you need to take advantage.

"Apart from that, we drove a perfect race, the perfect start, the perfect balance and the perfect strategy, so great job by the team."

But when asked about potential future implications of the result, Magnussen admitted that there was very little concrete to say.

"Let's see what happens," he replied.