A bad strategy deprives Magnussen of the top 10 in Austin
The Dane finished the Grand Prix in eleventh place. A result that could have been more satisfying if Haas hadn't asked him to stop at the pits a second time. A strategic mistake that costs points to the American team.
The weeks go by and are the same for Haas, who concludes another convincing weekend, this time on home soil in Austin. Solid throughout the weekend, the American team leaves the United States with seven more points.
A fourth consecutive points finish allows the team, now led by Ayao Komatsu, to move into sixth place ahead of Racing Bulls in the constructors’ standings. However, the result could have been better if a misjudgment of the race by the engineers hadn’t prevented Magnussen from making a second pit stop.
A double entry in the missed points on Sunday.
Haas’ weekend will not be perfect. However, it seemed to be off to a good start after the sprint race, where both drivers of the American team crossed the finish line in 7th and 8th positions. A very satisfying result that Magnussen and Hülkenberg hoped to repeat during the main race. While the German driver managed to finish in eighth place, thus earning four additional points, the situation was quite different for Magnussen.
Starting in eighth place after another qualification in Q3, the former McLaren driver had to settle for eleventh position at the end of the Grand Prix. A disappointing result, which can be explained by a communication error with his engineer Mark Slade.
A costly second pit stop for Magnussen
On the 38th lap, while comfortably positioned in the top 10, the team asked him to make a second stop, fearing that his tires would collapse at the end of the race as he was one of the first drivers to stop at the pit (on the 18th lap). “Kev, the situation is that we are concerned about the degradation of your tires at the end, that’s why we made this suggestion. We believe it will be the same or a better result,” his race engineer explained at the time. A choice that turned out to be wrong according to Ayao Komatsu, the boss of Haas, who admitted that the team had made a mistake by not leaving him on track, like all the other drivers.
« On Kevin’s side, it was almost the opposite, as our basic strategy was for two pit stops, but there was a confusing communication towards the end of the race. I think we should have scored points with both cars today. While Kevin might have struggled to hold onto 10th place, he would have had a chance at least.
» On his part, the Dane preferred to remain moderate at the end of the race, without hiding his frustration.
« Not sure we can say it’s bad luck, but that’s how it is », he explained to the official F1 channel.
« I didn’t score any points today, I think we had a good chance to do it, but we didn’t succeed. You step out of the car, you go directly to talk to the media, I better talk to the team first. » Despite this disappointment, the American team leaves the United States Grand Prix with seven more points. It now sits ahead of Racing Bulls in the team standings and approaches the last five rounds of the season with confidence.
