Kevin Magnussen believes he has "never fought so hard" after picking up 10th place to return Haas to the points in the Singapore Grand Prix. 2023 has proved a troublesome season for the team, with strong qualifying pace not being translated into race results due to high levels of tyre degradation and the inability to solve it. A huge upgrade package is on the way for the United States Grand Prix, but Singapore offered the team a good chance to put points on the board via a Grand Prix for the first time since Miami. Using that qualifying pace, Magnussen was sixth alongside Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg ninth on the grid, and with overtaking tricky in Singapore, the duo fancied their chances of picking up points. As it turned out, Magnussen finished 10th, 1.3s clear of Alexander Albon, who lost time late on after Sergio Perez barged past at Turn 13, picking up a penalty as he did so, with the Dane relieved at picking up a reward.
"I'm so pleased with that, it was a hard fight and I don't think I've ever fought so hard for a point," Magnussen told media including RacingNews365. "I really, really wanted it and after the good qualifying, it would have been so disappointing not to get anything out of it. "It looked tough at one point, after I had an off a Turn 1/2/3, I thought it was game over as my tyres were just done. "[We pitted] for Softs, and it worked really well, the pace was good and we made up a few positions and then a few people crashed and I got a point. "We got an opportunity and we took it. We were ready to capitalise and that is what I always say. We go into these races and we know that the race pace isn't going to be that good, tyre degradation is not on our side and we've just got to be ready to take any opportunity there is and we did that." Magnussen has struggled to gel with the demands of the VF-23 across the season, previously only picking up a point apiece in Saudi Arabia and Miami, but felt the result was not about boosting his self-confidence. "It's not really about self-confidence," he explained. "I worked very hard for this, so it is nice when it pays off, working out in the gym and my a**e off in the car. It is nice to get something out of it. "We are competitors and we want to show what we can do and get something out of it."
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