Despite missing out on the top ten in Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen feels the update the Haas F1 Team has brought to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve this weekend is working, and without it they would have been much further down the field.
The Dane will start eleventh on the grid, and although they were not the leading midfield outfit as they were back in the Spanish Grand Prix, the track characteristics of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is very different to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and it was always going to be difficult this weekend.
“We brought an upgrade here and we hoped that would improve the car, and it looks like it has,” said Magnussen. “This kind of track – we knew it was going to be difficult here.
“We put this upgrade on and, of course, it’s difficult to see as we’re not as quick as we were in Barcelona, where we were dominating that midfield. I think without the upgrade we’d have been a lot worse here.
“Low speed tracks are our weak point, but I’m happy that, so far, we’ve been able to limit the damage.”
Magnussen feels it should be possible to make gains on Sunday and will have the free choice of starting tyre, particularly advantageous as it appears the pink-banded Hypersoft Pirelli tyre will not last long with high fuel, something a lot of the top ten will have to contend with.
“I think we can attack tomorrow,” said Magnussen. “Our race pace, if anything, is better than our qualifying pace, and we’re starting with a free choice of tire in P11 – that’s probably a better position to be in than P10 and P9.
“We’re going to fight.”
