Kevin Magnussen 'can't believe what is even going on' at Haas F1 team
Kevin Magnussen was in a joyous mood after the first day of the Bahrain GP.
Magnussen, who was expected to be racing at Sebring this weekend, could not believe the turn of events that had led him to race for Haas once again.
Talking to the media afterward, Magnussen could not hide his happiness on being back in F1.
"It was so consistent today, lap times were really strong, and I’m still super excited.”
@KevinMagnussen reacts to his first Friday back with #HaasF1
#BahrainGP https://t.co/0CusqClGph
“I can’t believe what is even going on. It is so cool man, surreal. So I feel very lucky. The car has been feeling good all day again, like last week. In FP1 we were focusing a little more on race setup and race feeling, and we weren’t trying to set a lap time."
He added:
“In FP2 we did a quali sim, still not fully going for it, but more like a quali sim and that looked better on the times. But I think long run was what I was really encouraged by. The car just felt so consistent and lap times were really strong. At this point I still feel like I don’t know where people are, especially when you look at long run pace."
Kevin Magnussen: I am excited for tomorrow!
"The team did a fantastic job over the last week from testing to now – it was relentless work." 🙌
Guenther thanks the team after a strong start to the #BahrainGP weekend 🇧🇭
#HaasF1 https://t.co/U1Arn8i4As
Magnussen's quali sim put him and his teammates in the top 10 in the FP2 standings but the Danish driver revealed it was still a bit uncertain where the teams stacked up in the pecking order.
“It is very up and down, even between team-mates, so let’s see. So far we are feeling good and we are happy and with a good car. So I am excited for tomorrow.”
When questioned on whether the pace of Haas looks genuine, Kevin Magnussen hoped that was the case but cautioned against getting carried away as things can change quickly in F1.
“I really hope so, and so far it looks like it. But I have enough experience in this sport to know that you can’t feel sure of it until the season is over, basically."
He added:
“But it certainly has been a good start so far. We’ve only done two practices so far so we’ll see how it goes for the rest of the weekend, but it has been a good start.”
Haas has made a good step forward this season and coming back from being the slowest car on the grid has to be considered a significant turnaround for the team.