If ever there was a moment when you needed a reminder that F1 is also a team sport, Haas provided that reminder at the Saudi Grand Prix.
About halfway through Saturday night’s race, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was running just outside the points, with teammate Nico Hulkenberg a few places ahead. However, Haas knew they had no chance of finishing on double points as Magnussen had received a 10-second penalty for colliding with Alexander Albon.
Knowing his chances of finishing in the top 10 were gone, Haas turned to competing in team competition instead. Hulkenberg still needed a pit stop, which would have jeopardized his own 10th place finish and his team’s chances for points.
So Magnussen went to work.
First he passed Hiroki Tsunoda (a pass that earned Magnussen an additional 10-second penalty), then thrust his elbow onto the track to keep the rest of the pack at bay. However, his efforts gave Hulkenberg enough of an advantage over the pack behind him that he returned to the track in a position to finish 10th when he pitted.
He did just that and as a result Haas moved up to sixth in the constructors’ standings. Granted, this is just two races in, but for a team that finished last a season ago, this is welcome news.
Looking at Magnussen’s telemetry data during the race, Courtesy of F1-tempoNow you can see how Hulkenberg dropped his pace from lap 22 to defend his position with his elbow out, and how he slowed down until Hulkenberg’s pit stop on lap 33.
After the race, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu and Hulkenberg praised Magnussen’s desire to compete as a team.
“It was great teamwork today and I’m very happy that it came out of great teamwork. We were fighting for 10th place (1 point) but we were competing against eight other drivers Everything had to be perfect to have a chance,” Komatsu said during the team’s post-race media roundup. “Kevin had two penalties today, but once we knew he was out of points contention we made a great decision and Kev drove great while setting a target lap time. Nico drove perfectly.” It was a great effort from the team, congratulations to everyone and I’m really looking forward to the next race. ”
“A point is worth a lot these days. It was a very clean race and I felt it was a really good race strategically for the team. We split the cars during the safety car, which we talked about before the race, but… It worked. On the restart, when the fast cars were gone, we got free air, good pace and good rhythm,” Hulkenberg added. “I think that was the key, but it was also Kevin’s teamwork today, slowing down the other guys so I could create a pit window. It was perfect teamwork, so in the second half of the season he I would like to repay the favor.”
In Magnussen’s mind, this one point was a big result for the team.
“I showed good pace but unfortunately I got two penalties and of course it wasn’t a great day for me, but I made it through with an effort to keep everyone back to create a gap for Nico to pit. I think we made up for it.” He got the points, so that’s very important, and now I’m not fighting for the championship, so the real battle is in the constructors’ championship, and I got the points today. I’m glad I did it,” Magnussen said. “This is huge for the team. We got it today. It’s positive that we have pace. For the second race in a row we showed that we have good pace.”
But at least one of the teams Magnussen blocked from competing is dissatisfied and plans to take the issue to the sport’s governing body, the FIA.
As mentioned above, Magnussen received a second 10-second penalty due to the incident with Tsunoda. His team, the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, has now condemned Magnussen’s driving and plans to raise concerns with the FIA.
“With Yuki, we raced conventional like most everyone else. We started him on medium [tire], and when the safety car came out, he pitted on the hard compound. What happened next was a little difficult to take in,” VCARB sporting director Alan Permane said during the team’s media roundup. “Magnussen deliberately went off the track to get in front of Yuki, slowing his pace by up to 2 seconds per lap. This created a gap for Hulkenberg, who had not yet stopped, and of course forced him to pit in front of everyone. The cars behind me.
“To me, that doesn’t seem right and is the very definition of unsportsmanlike conduct. I’m sure we and the other teams will have discussions with the FIA for future races.”
Permane was not the only one to harshly criticize Magnussen’s driving. Team principal Laurent Mequise also joined in the chorus in VCARB’s post-race report.
“Today was a very disappointing result for the team, despite doing a lot of good work over the weekend.
“Yuki was fighting for a 10th place finish. He was then passed by Magnussen, who cut the track to do so, increasing the speed of the entire pack in order to open up a gap to his teammate and allow him to pit in front of us all. “It ruined Yuki’s race, making the penalty imposed on Magnussen meaningless,” added Mekies.
