After finishing sixth at the Spanish Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen expressed his delight in helping Haas F1 Team kick-start their stuttering season.
Magnussen was the last car to be lapped by the leading pack, finishing comfortably behind and ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz Jr. respectively. In an otherwise tranquil race, the Dane had a part to play in the early battle for second, finding himself in the middle of Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas as they scrapped after their pitstops.
“I had a really good start,” beamed Magnussen. “I was alongside the Red Bulls, but I didn’t really want to fight them as I knew they were much faster.
“My job was to stay in seventh and settle down from there. I was able to defend well, keep out of trouble on the first lap, so I was happy.”
Whilst Magnussen managed to keep out of trouble, his slight moment of oversteer at Turn 3 on the first lap distracted his Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean immediately behind, the Frenchman spinning and collecting Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly in the midfield pack. Magnussen is currently flying the flag for the American team, with Grosjean yet to score this term, and told of his relief that Haas have finally come away from a race with a good haul of points after misfortune has robbed them previously.
“It’s been a strong performance and I think we deserved to get the kind of points we’ve scored in Bahrain and here,” he added.
“We should be able to score points at every race, and we have had the car to do that, we’ve just had some mistakes and mishaps that meant we didn’t score points regularly.
“It’s good to get some good points on the board. I’m happy we’re back more in our deserved position in the Constructors’ Championship, as well. We just need to keep this level up and continue to score regularly.”
Team principal Guenther Steiner praised Magnussen on a “solid job”, claiming that Haas are genuinely fighting at the front of the midfield and stand a chance of getting more points at the next round in Monaco, a track where they picked up a double points finish 12 months ago.
“Kevin did a solid job. There was never a threat for his position,” Steiner said.
“All in all, a good day, and again we showed that we’re in the top of the midfield at the moment. We’re really looking forward to going to Monte Carlo to get some more points.”
