Kevin Magnussen admits he “can’t believe” how far Haas has come since returning to the team, after showing “really strong” pace during Formula 1 practice on Friday in Bahrain.
Following Haas’ decision to terminate Nikita Mazepin’s contract, Magnussen made an unexpected comeback to F1 and showed the potential of the VF-22 by finishing FP2 in the top 10.
Team-mate Mick Schumacher managed to post the eighth fastest time, proving how much of a step forward the team has taken after choosing to cease development of its 2021 car to focus on the all-new technical regulations for this year.
Asked if he was surprised how quickly Haas had built momentum following his return, Magnussen said, as quoted by Motorsport.com: “I can’t believe what is even going on.
“It is so cool man, surreal. So I feel very lucky.”
Although Magnussen’s one-lap pace caught the attention of others, the Dane said the performance of the car in race trim was more encouraging.
“The car has been feeling good all day again, like last week,” Magnussen said.
“In FP1 we were focusing a little more on race setup and race feeling, and we weren’t trying to set a lap time.
“In FP2 we did a quali sim, still not fully going for it, but more like a quali sim and that looked better on the times.
“But I think long run was what I was really encouraged by. The car just felt so consistent and lap times were really strong.”
While satisfied with the team’s display in practice, Magnussen stressed it was too early to gage where Haas stacks up against it rivals.
“At this point I still feel like I don’t know where people are, especially when you look at long run pace,” he said.
“It is very up and down, even between team-mates, so let’s see. So far we are feeling good and we are happy and with a good car. So I am excited for tomorrow.”
Magnussen previously drove for Haas across a four-year spell between 2017 and 2020, and is optimistic the American-owned outfit can rediscover its form over the season.
Asked if Haas was showing signs it was back to better days, Magnussen said: “I really hope so, and so far it looks like it. But I have enough experience in this sport to know that you can’t feel sure of it until the season is over, basically.
“But it certainly has been a good start so far. We’ve only done two practices so far so we’ll see how it goes for the rest of the weekend, but it has been a good start.”
Comments.
Loading comments…