Kevin Magnussen earns Haas’ first point in Jeddah
The battle between the Danish driver and Yuki Tsunoda in his AlphaTauri almost went unnoticed. However, it was crucial as it offered the final point up for grabs in Jeddah, which Kevin Magnussen ultimately secured.
The first round of the season was a disappointment for Haas, who finished outside the top 10 despite a good pace. In the second round in Jeddah, there was a sense of relief as Kevin Magnussen scored the team’s first point.
A 20-round battle
Thirteenth on the starting grid, the Haas driver was the first on the field to make a pit stop on the ninth lap, switching to hard tires. After Lance Stroll’s retirement and the safety car period, he was in the points contention.
From the 25th lap, he had to attempt to overtake Tsunoda and his AlphaTauri, who were in 10th place. The Danish driver finally succeeded, a few laps before the finish, by planting his brakes on the inside of turn one, not without locking up his wheels, just like the Japanese driver, who ultimately had to give way.
“It was a good overtaking,” Kevin Magnussen says with relief.
Yuki did an excellent job of defense and kept me behind him for many laps, placing his car in all the right places to disrupt my aerodynamics at crucial moments and always taking good exits in the final corner to defend at turn 1, and I eventually got past him.
Thanks to this point, the Haas team is now 7th in the constructors’ standings, ahead of Williams, AlphaTauri, and McLaren.
“I am truly happy,” expresses the 30-year-old pilot.
I think we took a good step forward this weekend in terms of adjustments, much better with tire degradation today than in Bahrain, so we should be really happy about that.
I think we have taken a step forward, and I hope it will translate to Melbourne and the upcoming races. We will return to more challenging races on the tarmac, and then we will see if we have truly made progress. But I am happy for today.
