Kevin Magnussen was naturally delighted to secure a top six place on the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday, with the Dane also the first of those to profit from Pierre Gasly’s penalty.
The Haas F1 Team racer damaged his front wing during the second segment of Saturday’s Qualifying session at the Circuit de Monaco but had done enough to advance into the top ten shootout.
When there he excelled once more and put the car sixth on the grid, which will become an excellent fifth once Gasly’s penalty is applied. Gasly ironically was penalised for blocking Magnussen’s team-mate at Haas, Romain Grosjean.
Magnussen felt it was a ‘perfect job’ from the whole Haas team during Qualifying, particularly after his wing breakage in Q2 that left them with work to do ahead of Q3. He felt he had a car he could push to set competitive lap times, and everyone was rewarded with the top six grid slot.
“It was a really good session,” said Magnussen. “I had a really good car, I could push, I felt comfortable.
“I put a lot of stress on the guys in Q2 with the damage to the front wing in the session after I kissed the wall, they did a fantastic job to turn it around, fix it, and send me out again. I got into Q3 with a good lap, then did another one there.
“We know how important qualifying is at this track, so to get P6 at the front of the midfield again – the fake pole position, I’m extremely happy with it. It was a perfect job from the whole team, not just me – it was a team effort.”
