Renault's new racing director Frederic Vasseur has revealed that the French manufacturer had considered GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne for the second seat alongside Jolyon Palmer, but McLaren refused to release him from his contract.
Vasseur knows Vandoorne well, with the young Belgian driver having secured his GP2 title driving for the ART Grand Prix GP2 team, which Vasseur led up until his promotion to his new role at Renault's Formula 1 team.
Therefore upon learning that Pastor Maldonado's contract would be torn up over a financial dispute with his sponsor, it was only natural for Vasseur to consider Vandoorne. However the 23-year-old is currently signed to McLaren where he holds a test and reserve role, which made signing him impossible.
"We had to put a cross next to Stoffel [on our driver list]," Vasseur told DH.be. "He is under contract with McLaren and the team did not want to part ways.
"So we needed someone who was available and our choice was therefore focused on Kevin [Magnussen]."
Magnussen, who was confirmed as Renault's second driver during a press conference on Wednesday, revealed he approached Renault first, and that a contract for 2016 was only signed the day before he was announced.
"It was me who contacted Renault first to know if there was a possibility of driving for them," said the Dane. "Then Pastor Maldonado's [contract] had not been renewed and everything went very quickly after that. It was only on Tuesday that I signed a contract with them."
