Kevin Magnussen continued his dream of returning to Formula One by finishing Haas’ 28-race record with a sensational five-point lead at the Bahrain Grand Prix of the season.
The Dane was called up as a full-time replacement for Nikita Mazepin just under a week ago, after driving for the last time in F1 in 2020. late retirement of both Red Bulls.
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“This madness just goes on,” he said. “We had a really good race, the car was good all the way through – we had a bit more degradation than we had hoped for on the first set [of tyres].
“I also passed some people who were faster than me, so I did not really know if I was trying to catch up or leave them behind, and I was a bit locked up.
“The first stint may not have been perfect, but then from there, even though we were earlier than planned, we extended the second stint on the same tire, extended to get back on track, then had a safety car at the end that put us and everyone on the same tire and just one sprint race to the finish, which was intense.
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“Of course, a little bit of luck there in the end with the two Red Bulls, but we’ll take that.”
He added: “I can not wait for the rest of the year, I just want to move on.”
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Haas now sits third in the construction championship with 10 points, which is more than they have shot together in the last two seasons. It is also only the fifth time that a hare has finished in the top five in its history.
“If you think about the last two years and then come back like that, in my opinion you can not write such a story,” said Haas team manager Guenther Steiner. “But the guys on the race track, the last two years they had hard times but they kept their heads down [down]learned, and the pit stops today were good, and everything was just fine.
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“They took last year to prepare for a better car and the boys delivered a good car this year. It’s all up to the team. They can all be very proud. I am very proud of them.
“It’s just fantastic, I can not say anymore, but it’s all to the team. Kevin did a fantastic job, for him a comeback like this he would not have dreamed, but things happen in life – a month ago it’s a completely different scenario and now all of a sudden we’re fifth.
Mick Schumacher just missed his first World Cup point with 11th – but he was on his back after being overturned by Esteban Ocon in the opening round.
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