Kevin Magnussen was thrilled to finish as best of the rest in Qualifying for the German Grand Prix, and with both Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo out of position, the Dane will start Sunday’s race from fifth on the grid.
The Haas F1 Team racer will share the third row with team-mate Romain Grosjean, with his final lap seeing him jump ahead of the Frenchman, but he knew there was no chance of beating Max Verstappen, with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing too far ahead.
“That was a nice lap at the end,” said Magnussen. “There was no beating the Red Bulls – they’re still too far ahead for us to play with them, but we’re best of the rest again, and that’s our target.”
Magnussen hopes Haas remain the fourth best team during Sunday’s race at the Hockenheimring, and he hopes he is able to stay out of trouble and bring home a good haul of points as they attempt to chase down the nineteen-point gap to the Renault Sport Formula One Team in the Constructors’ Championship.
The Dane also hopes the predicted cooler conditions on Sunday will help prevent the kind of overheating seen with the Pirelli tyres during Friday practice so the team can maximise their result.
“Now we just need to get it tomorrow as well, which is the bigger challenge,” said Magnussen. “For tomorrow, you just hope the guys ahead get a good start so we can get some free air and do our own thing.
“We’re lucky that it’s looking like the temperatures will be a little bit cooler. With the problems we had on Friday with the overheating of the tyres, maybe it’ll be a bit better. Hopefully, the car will behave well, as it did today, and we can score some good points.”
