Kevin Magnussen has hailed his Haas car as "phenomenal" after coming home ninth in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, scoring points for the second time in as many races. After only being confirmed to make his F1 return less than two weeks before the start of the 2022 campaign, Magnussen finished fifth in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, marking the American-led team's best result since Austria 2018. Despite technical issues limiting his Friday running, Magnussen was competitive again in Jeddah, making it through to the top 10 shootout in qualifying and running competitively in the race, though an ill-timed Safety Car period cost him time relative to others. "The worst thing that could happen to us did happen, as we started on the opposite strategy, on the Hard tyre," said Magnussen in his post-race debrief. "Almost everyone else was on Mediums and the worst thing that could happen was a Safety Car on Lap 16 or 17, and it happened on Lap 16. "To still get two points is very good and the car was phenomenal again, it's such a joy to drive."
Why Virtual Safety Car was no help for Magnussen
Magnussen admits that he had a slice of good fortune later in the race, as he dived into the pits for fresh tyres just before the pit lane was closed during a Virtual Safety Car period. Ultimately, though, this did not have a significant bearing on his result. "We did get a little bit of luck back at the end with the VSC, but had that been a Safety Car rather than a VSC, everyone would've been condensed and with new tyres we would have scored big points again," rued Magnussen. "The team has done a fantastic job and we bounced back from a difficult situation on Friday, so I'm happy." Magnussen's strong drive was in stark contrast to the weekend of teammate Mick Schumacher, who was unable to take the start after crashing heavily during qualifying. Having scored only three championship points across the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Haas already have 12 points after just two races of 2022, and the team currently sit fifth in the Constructors' standings.
Most read
