Kevin Magnussen once again gets a concession from the Haas camp. The team takes the blame for the Dane's lack of points on its shoulders.
Kevin Magnussen once again gets a concession from the Haas owner.
It was a mistake by the Haas team that cost him the opportunity to pick up points in the latest Formula 1 lob.
At a crucial point in the race, K-Mag was called in for an extra pit stop, which saw him finish just outside the points in 11th place.
Teammate Nico Hülkenberg, who opted for a different strategy and only made one pit stop, finished eighth and secured the points.
Magnussen was otherwise in a solid ninth place when the team chose to call him back in, apparently for fear of a tire breakdown towards the end of the race.
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After the race, Magnussen expressed his frustration at the decision: "I don't think you can call it unfortunate, but that's how it is," he told Formula 1's official channel .
– I think we had a good chance to score points. But it just didn't work out today."
The second pit stop came after a conversation with Magnussen's race engineer, Mark Slade, on lap 38. In this conversation, it became clear that communication between the team and Magnussen was unclear.
When asked to pit, he asked the team why they thought he was still in "good shape", but never received a definitive answer.
After the race, the team tried to downplay the extent of the mistake, but it was clear that the decision had been decisive for Magnussen's result.
Team boss Ayao Komatsu later admitted that it was a mistake to call Magnussen in for an extra pit stop.
He also admitted that Magnussen could have had a chance to pick up points if he had stayed out on the field.
– We should have scored points with both cars today. The communication was messed up towards the end of the race and I feel that Kevin might have been fighting for tenth place if we had left him out. At least that would have given him a chance.”
Magnussen lost the final point-scoring position to Franco Colapinto, who finished tenth.
It was a mixed day for the Haas team, with Hülkenberg delivering a solid result. While Magnussen had the potential to do better if the team's communication problems had not cost him points. According to the Racefans media, Haas will now evaluate the treatment of the Dane and try to avoid similar mistakes in the future.
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