Steiner rubbishes Magnussen luck claim for São Paulo pole

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has rubbished suggestions Kevin Magnussen 'got lucky' in securing his maiden F1 pole at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Magnussen successfully navigated tricky conditions to set the fastest time in the initial exchanges in Q3 as rain threatened.

But before drivers could register a second lap, George Russell spun his Mercedes into the gravel to trigger a red-flag period.

During the shirt delay, rain began to fall more heavily, leading to the conditions significantly worsening and preventing any improvements in the closing eight minutes.

“It was not luck," Steiner told Sky Sports F1. "It was well deserved from the driver and the team being on the right tyres at the right time, and Kevin putting a lap down when it was needed.

“We needed to go out there, and he was first out there. You can say he had an advantage, but he also had a disadvantage in that he had nobody to gauge with. He was on his own, so he put a lap down and it stuck.

“Basically, when it rains soup, you need to have a spoon ready, and we had a spoon ready today.”

Magnussen had shown pace in FP1 as well as in the first two phases of qualifying and despite the undeniable good fortune in Q3, Steiner was keen to emphasise the team had earned its reward through its efforts at the start of the session.

"You always can say we were lucky or unlucky, and I say you make your own luck," he added.

"I think getting through in these difficult conditions, for the whole team, we had the right tyre choice always. We sent him out in the right spots.

"So yeah, we got lucky that it rained but the other ones could have been as lucky as us. They just needed to do a faster lap, so I’m sorry."

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