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Kevin Magnussen has praised the Haas team for opting to pit both of its drivers at the end of the formation lap for slick tyres at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
All 20 drivers started the formation lap on wet weather tyres, however Haas made the call to pit both Magnussen and Romain Grosjean for the medium compound before the opening lap.
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The team would be later penalised for the decision, however after all other drivers made their stops for dry tyres, Magnussen and Grosjean were promoted to third and fourth respectively.
Magnussen ended up crossing the line in ninth place, but was demoted to tenth to score the American squad's first championship points of 2020.
“I'm so happy. The team took an amazing call before the beginning of the race on the formation lap to call for slicks,” Magnussen said.
“It was really strong for them to give me that trust, to put me out on dry tyres in those conditions, it wasn't easy and it was really risky.
“They gave me that trust and it worked out. The pace was there, I was able to keep the tyres alive and move all the way up. I started from the pit lane and after a few laps I was in P3 or something.
“It put me back in the race. I knew from there P3 wasn't for us, but I was in P3 an that was an amazing starting position for us in the race. I just thought I'd try to hang onto it as much as I can.”
Magnussen says there was little point putting up a fight against the faster teams, as he would only lose time in his quest for a top ten finish.
“I was thinking, trying to judge where I might be able to hang on. There was no point trying to hang on to P3 so I was thinking and asking the team 'where do you think I'm going to be?'
“Eventually it was P9, I opened the gap to Ferrari - who would have thought that? Then I was able to keep the McLaren away.
“It just shows what a good car we have in the race. It proves the team has done an amazing job even though we're struggling a little it in qualifying. We are strong and we can do a good race.”
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C. Sainz jr
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Replies (4)
Login to replyDert38
Posts: 377
Kevin's race pace on the last stint was stunning, i couldn't believe my eyes ^_^
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
Really happy for them, bravo for thinking outside the box. HAAS need some luck and hopefully it will lift them.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
So was that legal then? I heard that they were under investigation because the team is not supposed to provide driving aids during the formation lap.
Well, the answer is yes of course it was legal. The real question is why? I didn't see anything explaining why that pit call didn't constitute a driving aid.
HaasF1Fan
Posts: 2
You have to give Romain credit for his stellar defense for Kevin. He really did a good job of holding up the guys behind him and helped him get points. The team looked much better and needs to maintain that momentum going into next weekend