Kevin Magnussen has rejected suggestions that he is 'disheartened' as Haas's form in Formula 1, but admits he is frustrated. The Danish driver scored points in both Saudi Arabia and Miami, but has yet to finish higher than 15th since that 10th place in Florida in May. The Haas VF-23 has shown a ferocious appetite for tyres, meaning the team is struggling for race pace, while also possessing decent single-lap speed that has allowed teammate Nico Hulkenberg to qualify inside the top 10 on a handful of occasions. In Hungary, Magnussen was 17th and the last car running on track before a lowly 15th place in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. But despite the struggle for pace, Magnussen says he is not 'disheartened' at the situation.
Magnussen on Haas situation
"I think it's frustration. It's of course building when you see other teams developing and making big gains and we haven't seemed to make that big step yet," Magnussen told media including RacingNews365. "But I still have all the faith in the team that we can turn it around eventually. "It's not going to be immediate but I think we're doing the groundwork to be able to bring that step later on in the year. "It's of course frustrating when you don't have it and we want to be up there scoring points and doing well and at the moment it's a bit hard. "We have made some progress. Overall, our performances have dropped compared to our main competitors. "But Qualifying versus Race, I think that that has improved. Unfortunately, some of the cars that we used to be racing at the beginning of the year have just become much faster overall and that's why we don't see that gain so much. "But yeah, as I said, we're working super hard. "The whole team is really working hard and I think there's still reason to be optimistic for the remainder of the year." As for Magnussen's future with the team beyond 2023, the one-time podium finisher believes he and Haas will "eventually come around to it." "We'll see when it happens and how that pans out," he added. "I think at the moment there's not any news to bring and eventually we'll come around to it. I don't really know what's going on. "I feel like the team is pretty happy but you never know with these things and I'll take it one day at a time."
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