Kevin Magnussen confident Haas not "a one-hit-wonder"

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Magnussen confident Haas not "a one-hit-wonder"

The Dane finished fifth in Bahrain

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Saturday 26 March 2022 12:25

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Kevin Magnussen is confident Haas' top-five finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix will not prove to be "a one-hit-wonder".

The Danish driver marked a spectacular return to the F1 grid by finishing fifth in the season-opener after battling with the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the early stages.

Magnussen's performance means Haas head into Sunday's race in Saudi Arabia lying third in the constructors' standings following what was its best result since 2018.

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That year, the American-owned team finished fifth in the championship, a result that could have been improved upon had it not been for the double pit stop mistake at the Australian Grand Prix.

Asked if the performance of the team four years ago gave him confidence of a sustained run in the points, Magnussen replied: "Hopefully we can have a similar season to 2018.

"In 2018, we threw away quite a few points on operational errors and strategy and stuff like that but hopefully, we can have the same kind of performance and just do a little better.

"Had Romain [Grosjean, then-Haas team-mate] had a little better first half of the season and didn't have the pit stop errors in Melbourne, then we would have finished fourth in the championship which would have been incredible for a team like us.

"So I take a lot of confidence from what I saw back then. I am not so worried that it is like a one-hit-wonder."

Magnussen prepared for "crazy" Saudi Arabian GP

Aside from the off-track difficulties following the terrorist missile strike on a nearby oil depot, Magnussen endured a tough debut day on it.

A radiator change forced him to sit out all but two installation laps of first practice, while in FP2 he was the slowest of the 20 drivers after stopping on track midway through.

As to what to expect this weekend, aside from the underlying difficulties, Magnussen added: "It was kind of crazy last year wasn't it and not only is the track super crazy, but also it was a crazy race with two red flags and a lot of stuff happening.

"I expect, or at least I am prepared for a crazy race again and I guess everyone is trying to anticipate...

"We had it one year in Baku where we saw a super crazy race and the next one was super boring because everyone was careful and anticipating problems so let's see.

"It is certainly a very unique track, so high speed for a street circuit."