KEVIN Magnussen admitted lessons were learnt at the German Grand Prix after a wrong pit strategy proved costly.

The Danish driver could only deliver a 16th place finish for the Enstone-based Renault team at Hockenheim after a two-stop race proved his downfall.

It meant he missed out on the points for an eighth-successive race, heading in to the summer shutdown.

Magnussen said: "We decided on a two-stop strategy before the race as all the data pointed to it being the correct thing to do.

"However, we saw the three-stop strategy of our rivals worked better.

"This wasn’t immediately obvious and we were too committed to the two-stop so it’s a lesson learnt."

Teammate Jolyon Palmer finished 19th, but made contact with Williams driver Felipe Massa on the first lap after making a positive start from 16th.

He said: "I had a big lock up in turn two and massively flat-spotted my tyres.

"I could barely see where I was going because of the vibrations and I tipped a Williams while trying to hold on from one of the McLarens.

"This damaged my front wing which we changed at the second pit stop.

"After that there wasn’t much I could do."