‘We had a very strong first half of the year,’ Kevin Magnussen reflects on his Formula 1 return with Haas
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Kevin Magnussen
Kevin Magnussen returned to Formula 1 after a year on the sidelines in 2021, and what a return it was. In his first race, the Dane finished fifth, which would end up being his and Haas’ highest finish of the season. He scored points in 2 of the 3 next races, but then the team underwent a bit of a slump, one which wasn’t broken till Silverstone. But after Austria, it was back to slim pickings again.
Nevertheless, he still scored 67.5 percent of the team’s total points in 2022. It would probably have been more if not for a number of first-lap incidents and consequent black-and-orange flags, which derailed his races on a number of occasions. Apart from his performance in the season opener, his most impressive moment was definitely taking pole position in Brazil. By any meaning of the word, Magnussen gave a good account of himself this season.
As per Formula1.com, when reminiscing on his return to the grid with Haas, the 30-year-old said: “It’s been a real journey. Of course, at the beginning of the year, we were really strong. We started the season in Bahrain with P5, and that was a massive surprise, I guess, because the team had been struggling for two years.”
Haas scored 91.8 percent of their total points in 2022 before the summer break and the same figure was 88 percent for Magnussen, which Magnussen felt was a ‘very strong’ first half: “To hit the road [running] like that in the first race was pretty cool. And then, of course, we had a very strong first half of the year.”
Kevin Magnussen: No reason we can’t start next season like we did 2022
In the second half of the season, the VF-22 seemed like a remnant of its past self. Aston Martin, who had started the year with disappointment, pipped them to seventh place, but they were able to just hold off AlphaTauri to eighth place by just a two-point margin. Kevin Magnussen agrees that Haas were out developed, but hopes they can catch up next year.
The Danish driver didn’t think there’s any reason Haas can’t catch up and start the year strong next season, just like they had in 2022: “I think some of the other teams, like Alpine and Aston Martin, kind of developed their performance more than us. But there’s no reason that we can’t catch up [with our development] over the winter and start again like we did [in 2022] next year.”
Next year, he will partner Nico Hulkenberg, who will return to the grid as a regular driver for the first time since 2019. Haas have been given a financial boost from their partnership with Moneygram, which will finally allow them to reach the budget cap. This should definitely help them take the fight to their competition.
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Aniket Tripathi
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