Magnussen Believes Haas Should Pursue Direction That Already Failed Them Once

Wednesday, 10 January 2024 at 11:00

Kevin Magnussen said he believes his team should continue in the development of an unsuccessful new concept from the end of the 2023 season.

Haas F1 team brought a significant upgrade package to their cars ahead of the 2023 United States Grand Prix, but as we know by now, it was a big failure.

The performance of the American team's cars didn't improve at all. Moreover, the older version of their car performed better at certain circuits compared to the new one.

While the upgrade didn't bring any performance improvements, Kevin Magnussen decided he wanted to continue working with the new concept until the end of the season.

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The Dane believes Haas has to move forward in order to catch up with other F1 teams, and the right way is to make their newer concept work. As quoted by the official F1 website, he said:

“"I think the upgraded car is more in line with the plan for next year, the concept looks like what we think of for next year."”

While the new car didn't work, the 31-year-old said he saw flashes of great performance in it which gave him hope moving forward.

“"It’s not actually got more downforce on paper, it’s not faster, but it is better to drive, it’s easier, the balance is more consistent. That’s why you don’t see a step back when we run the new spec, although it’s got less downforce."”

Kevin Magnussen's teammate Nico Hulkenberg was much more disappointed by his team's failed upgrades. It is not clear whether the German driver is on the same page as Magnussen in terms of pursuing the development of the newer concept. The Dane added:

“"I think that’s what we need to go into the winter, developing in that direction, and hopefully we can take a step forward for next year because it’s not been an easy year, for sure."”