McLaren have said that there is a simple explanation as to why Kevin Magnussen never received a £270,000 company car while driving for the British team.

The Dane, who now drives for Renault after being dropped by McLaren, revealed to local broadcaster TV2 this week that he never received his McLaren 650S road car even though he chose "the colour, the wheels, the interior, everything".

A team spokesman told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet: "It is true that McLaren makes company cars available for its two drivers.

"Jenson Button had one without difficulty, but because Kevin Magnussen is so young, it was difficult to find an insurance policy that would cover it for a reasonable amount of money."

The spokesman, who believes that Magnussen would have revealed the news about the company car only light-heartedly, said that by the time the insurance policy was found, the 23-year-old had left the team.