Renault not facing chassis shortage despite crashes

Kevin Magnussen was forced to miss qualifying in Montreal after crashing in to the wall in the final free practice session.

The incident forced him to switch to a spare chassis for the race, because the damage on what had been a brand new car was too much.

With teammate Jolyon Palmer having written off a chassis in his Monaco Grand Prix accident, Renault could have faced some drama if Magnussen's new tub had been too badly wrecked.

However, team principal Frederic Vasseur says the team has the situation under control, because Magnussen's damaged Canada car can be repaired.

“Kevin’s Canadian chassis did not get too badly damaged so we’ll see it as the spare in Baku,” he explained. “Jolyon’s Monaco chassis was rather more damaged so we won’t see that one again.

“This is the nature of motor racing and our composites department is being kept busy. Fortunately neither driver suffered any ill from either of their impacts, which illustrates the strength of the modern Formula 1 car.”

Renault technical director Nick Chester believes that the damaged Magnussen car from Canada should be in good enough condition to be brought back to racing later in the season.

“We are reviewing the damage but I am sure we will see it again for race action later in the season,” he said.