Magnussen issues Haas rally cry in constructors' battle

Kevin Magnussen has called on Haas to set its sights on beating RB to sixth place in the F1 constructors' standings.

The 31-year-old believes it is "possible" but admits he is not confident the American team will be able to overcome the existing points deficit to the Faenza-based squad over the final 10 rounds of the year.

RB leads Haas 34 points to 27 in the championship fight heading out of the summer break, meaning a couple of strong results could quickly bring the American outfit back into contention for its highest finish since achieving fifth-place in 2018.

"P6," Magnussen replied to media including RacingNews365 when asked what is possible for the team over the second-half of the year.

When that was followed up by being questioned on whether he was confident they team could do it, the Danish driver jokingly quipped back: "No, not really. But it's possible.

"They're within realistic distance from us, performance-wise and points-wise, that that's what we should go for - and I think we have a chance.

'Realistic chance' Haas can fight RB

With Daniel Ricciardo returning to form and more looking more likely to bring the same level of performance as Yuki Tsunoda in the second part of the season than in the opening 14 rounds, Magnussen will also need to close the gap to his own team-mate.

So far, Nico Hulkenberg has out-scored him 22 points to five. With the German and Tsunoda both on equal points, sixth in the constructors' championship could come down to Ricciardo vs Magnussen.

Also fundamental to which team ultimately gets the upper hand will be the development race between the two.

Both will be looking to upgrades as the season draws to a close, but with Haas being considerably more successful at introducing updates to its car than in years past, Magnussen feels Haas is on a "really positive" development trend.

"It's probably more likely than not that they're gonna outperform us in the second half [of the season], but you don't know what sort of developments they bring, and whether they will work and stuff," he explained.

"So I do think there's a realistic chance we can fight them.

"If you look at the first part of the season, they've been stronger than us, but only by a bit, so I think there is a chance."