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Button out, Magnussen burns in Singapore

SINGAPORE - McLaren's Kevin Magnussen labelled his 10th place finish at the stifling 2014 Singapore GP as the hardest point he had earned in F1 after he suffered burns from his overheated car.

The demanding two-hour race under floodlights along the 23-turn Marina Bay street circuit is always one of the toughest on the calendar with evening temperatures around 30 degrees and humidity high in the south-east Asian city state.

As his car struggled to cope the rookie was seen flailing his arms outside of his cockpit, desperately trying to get cool air down his sleeves and into his overheating suit.

'HARDEST POINT I'VE EARNED'

Magnussen, 12th in the Drivers' standings, said: "It was a very, very tough grand prix. During the race, I don't know if there was something wrong with the car, but my seat started getting very hot, which made things extremely uncomfortable for me.

"Without that, I think we could have done better than 10th, but at least we got that one point. It's better than nothing.

"It was the hardest point I've ever earned."

Magnussen had qualified ninth for Sunday's (September 21) race for a McLaren team that has struggled in 2014 after a double podium at the season-opening Australian GP where the Dane was second.

McLaren's racing director Eric Boullier said the one point from the tough weekend was difficult to accept but commended his young driver for completing the 60 punishing laps in such extreme conditions.

"He was subjected to severe bodily discomfort. His car's cockpit began to overheat, necessitating his holding his arms aloft, first one then the other, in an effort to direct cooling air down his sleeves and inside his race-suit, which was an unusually painful complication for him.

"In the end, after an impressively plucky drive in extremely challenging conditions, he was able to score a point for the team. It was scant consolation but it shows his tremendous fighting spirit. I commend him for it."

Click here for our full 2014 Singapore GP race report.

2014 Singapore GP qualifying and practice times:

Qualifying
Third session
Second practice 
First practice

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