Kevin Magnussen says he is keen not to get carried away by the euphoria of his Bahrain result, after the American-led team made a return to the midfield. Haas and Magnussen were one of the star performers at the season opener, with the Dane coming home in fifth place after qualifying in seventh. Having only returned to F1 ahead of the Bahrain pre-season test, after Haas dropped Nikita Mazepin from their driver line-up, it was a sensational result for Magnussen, who mentally wrote off the Formula 1 part of his driving career when he lost his Haas seat at the end of the 2020 season. But Magnussen, a driver who scored a podium in his debut race in 2014 when he raced with McLaren, is wary of expecting that level of performance to continue throughout the campaign.
Magnussen recalls the highs of the McLaren podium
"I mean, there's always the danger that you have such a great first race, and then you expect to be there every time," Magnussen told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I've been in that situation before where, my first race in Formula 1, I got on the podium, and then, after that, I was kind of just always disappointed with everything that wasn't a win. "I finished second, so the next [target] was a win. Everything that wasn't a win, which was all of the races so far, was a disappointment, so I had to really change my mindset, and I'm not gonna make that mistake again. "[I'm] just taking [it] race by race, building up this championship, and just get the best [out] of it every time."
How Magnussen has prepared for the Saudi Arabian GP
While Magnussen didn't have to worry too much about learning the layout of the Bahrain circuit, having raced there in the past, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is an entirely new challenge for him, as the new venue first appeared on the F1 calendar during his hiatus from the sport. As a result, Magnussen admitted he's going to have to take a more conservative approach to build up his pace this weekend. "It doesn't look like an easy track," said Magnussen, as he assessed the challenge ahead. "It's one of the tracks that you'd like to have as many laps on as possible, but I'll deal with it the best I can. "Again, it takes a little little bit of pressure away, that you think you have a good car, so I'm gonna just take a lap by lap, build up and get ready for qualifying. Hopefully, I can sort of be catching up by qualifying and then in the race really go for it. Pushed on what preparation - if any - he has done for the weekend, Magnussen said: "We didn't have time to drive the simulator, so I've just been watching videos!" Magnussen's first day of practice in Jeddah was severely disrupted, firstly due to a hydraulics issue in FP1, then another unspecified problem in FP2.
Most read
