![]() It’s kind of just being nice to each other and making sure we’re working for the team and not for ourselves.” “We push, I can push to try keep him behind, but I can’t close the door and stuff like that. “We have a policy in Haas that we don’t block each other, don’t fight each other,” Magnussen explained afterwards. ![]() Magnussen’s charge towards a point was completed by a typically rough around the edges but brilliantly aggressive move on Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri into Turn 1.īut that charge was only made possible by some sensible management between the Haas drivers who were separated by little throughout the race and swapped positions on multiple occasions through the opening phase. Grosjean and Magnussen weren’t without their run-ins but there’s a reason why Haas continually shunned the plentiful alternatives back then such as Ferrari-backed Antonio Giovinazzi – and even potentially giving Charles Leclerc his F1 debut at one stage – in favour of sticking with the experience of Grosjean/Magnussen.Įven though Hulkenberg is yet to get off the mark in 2023 his back-to-back Q3 appearances are a further vindication of the ‘plug-in’ ability Haas already knew he had from his starring cameo roles for Racing Point and Aston Martin during his three years out of a full-time F1 drive.Īnd the way he worked with Magnussen in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix potentially even suggests the duo could make an even more refined and effective experienced line-up than Magnussen/Grosjean was for the team. Haas’s decision to cast aside Mick Schumacher for Formula 1 veteran Nico Hulkenberg in 2023 effectively repeated the policy of its early years in F1.Īfter swapping the underperforming Esteban Gutierrez for Kevin Magnussen – a move few disagreed with – following its maiden season, Haas maintained a driver line-up of Magnussen and Romain Grosjean for four consecutive years before dropping them both in favour of a rookie duo for 2021, a decision partly motivated by finances.īut Haas effectively restored that kind of Grosjean/Magnussen partnership for 2023 by bringing in Hulkenberg to join Magnussen at the team in a bid to improve the efficacy of its driver line-up when points opportunities were on the table.
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