Kevin Magnussen vowed that the Haas F1 Team will return from Formula 1‘s summer break “stronger” after a disappointing Hungarian Grand Prix.
Magnussen was the sole Haas driver to see the chequered flag at the Hungaroring, in a lowly thirteenth place, as team-mate Romain Grosjean retired in the pits on lap 49 of 70 with a water pressure issue.
Grosjean had just let Magnussen overtake him in a choreographed move on the run up to Turn 4, with the Dane on a different strategy and using the soft compound tyres.
Magnussen rarely troubled the top 10 before his pitstop on lap 38, but made a good move on Scuderia Toro Rosso‘s Daniil Kvyat in the late stages of the race at Turn 1.
Reflecting on the race, Magnussen said that Haas’s race pace was relatively satisfactory, given the multitude of problems the team has faced in 2019.
“The car was okay in the race today, not too bad at least, for our level,” said Magnussen.
“Considering the problems we’ve had this year, it was pretty quick race pace – not good race pace, but compared to ourselves in the past.
“I’m happy we’re headed into the summer break now, we all are in the team, everyone’s ready for the break.
“We’ll come back stronger.”
Haas has struggled with keeping the divisive 2019 Pirelli tyres in the correct operating window, leaving the team marooned in ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship – having finished fifth in ’18.
Team boss Guenther Steiner said his team will “keep on trying until something changes”, but said that tyres were once again the key factor in Haas’s inability to trouble the higher end of the midfield.
“It was a pretty tough race for us,” said Steiner.
“In the end though we showed some fight with some other midfield teams.
“A lot is in these tyres, which makes these races so unpredictable, and weird almost.
“At the end, it’s a difficult situation to be, in dealing with these tires and getting them to work.
“We will keep on trying until something changes.”
