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Danish driver Kevin Magnussen opened up about the Haas F1 team's policy that played a major role in helping him open the team's account for the season last weekend in Jeddah.
After a pointless outing in the season opener in Bahrain, the American side came into the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP weekend under pressure to deliver on the leaderboard.
Kevin Magnussen started the race from P13, two spots behind teammate Nico Hulkenberg, and towards the latter stages of the race, the pair were in a direct fight to get into the points places. Unlike other driver pairings jostling for early-season supremacy, Magnussen and Hulkenberg opted to follow Haas F1's policy to not get in each other's way.
In a post-race interview after his P10 finish at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, the Danish driver said:
“We have a policy in Haas that we don’t block each other, don’t fight each other. We push, I can push to try to keep him behind but I can’t close the door and stuff like that. It’s kind of just being nice to each other and making sure we’re working for the team and not for ourselves.”
Kevin Magnussen was the faster Haas at the end of the race with Nico Hulkenberg finishing in P12 when the checkered flag was waved. The 30-year-old went on to add:
“It’s kind of just finding out who has more pace. He got past me then I’m quicker than him because we were just the same pace and then you get DRS on each other all the time, at one point you have to make a decision.”
This policy allowed Kevin Magnussen to go on and take the fight to AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda, who the Dane passed with a brilliant overtake just before the end of the race.
Kevin Magnussen pleased with Haas F1's setup choices after P10 finish in Saudi Arabia
Kevin Magnussen admitted to being pleased with his team's choices with regard to the way his car was set up for the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
The American outfit came into the race weekend with a cloud hanging over its head after news emerged of an alleged sanctions violation by its parent company. However, this did not throw a spanner in the works for the Dane, who managed to grab a point at the finish line.
In his post-race media interaction, Kevin Magnussen said:
"I am really happy. I think we made a pretty good step on the setup this weekend. We were much better on tyre degradation today than in Bahrain so, got to be really happy with that."
The improved tire degradation in comparison to the season opener in Bahrain could be down to the newer and smoother surface of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. All Ferrari-powered cars had to endure high tire degradation in the first race of the campaign.
While Magnussen was happy with the result, it was still one spot below his P9 finish at the same venue last season and the Dane will be keen to keep improving his results as the year progresses.
