Haas "should be competitive everywhere" after "crazy" Magnussen return

Magnussen and Schumacher in Bahrain — Photo: © LAT Images

Haas

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Haas "should be competitive everywhere" after "crazy" Magnussen return

Magnussen qualified and finished fifth in Bahrain

Sam Hall

Wednesday 23 March 2022 11:25

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Guenther Steiner has stated Haas "should be competitive everywhere" after Kevin Magnussen finished fifth on his return to F1 in Bahrain.

Haas ended the 2021 season bottom of the constructors' standings and as the only team not to register a point.

After spending all its '21 budget on the VF22, however, the team's fortunes have quickly turned around with Magnussen, a late replacement for Nikita Mazepin, demonstrating the potential within the car in his first race back after a year out.

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“I think the car should be competitive everywhere, in some places more and some places less, but it’s the same for everybody," said Steiner.

"In general, I think this is good for the championship.

Reflecting on the challenges of last year and particularly the Saudi Arabian event, Steiner added: “I think every race was a challenge for us last year but with Nikita running into Russell, it was a bit more than it was normally.

"I still need to see the changes but they know what they need to do in these high-speed sectors so you can see forwards a little bit more to help to avoid situations. I don’t think it will compromise how good the race track actually is.”

Magnussen labels F1 points return "unbelievable" and crazy"

Before making his F1 return with Haas, Magnussen had only finished in the top five on four occasions, with two of these coming in his debut year with McLaren and the most recent occurrence the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.

“It was pretty unbelievable – to be top five was crazy," said Magnussen.

"The car felt very good and we were able to push the entire race. We maybe had more degradation than we expected in the first stint but we made up for that in the second and got back on track.

"The team has done such an amazing job to get us into this position.”