Kevin Magnussen has one of his strongest weekends in Formula One since making his debut and finishing on the podium at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.
After qualifying P7, also known as best of the rest thanks to Piastri and Pérez’s Q1 eliminations, the Dane was absolutely outstanding on Sunday.
While Max Verstappen did ultimately finish ahead thanks to a 20-second penalty, Magnussen was faster on a number of laps in the closing stages as he displayed incredible pace, fending off Oscar Piastri for P7 in the process. The Aussie had 9-lap fresher hards.
The 32-year-old explained how everything was working perfectly throughout the meeting.
“Yeah, I think we did the best we could today. We couldn’t have done it better if we tried again.
“I just had the car in that sweet spot. I was super confident in the car, very, very comfortable. I didn’t make any mistakes through the whole race.
“It was just so easy to drive. I could push the tyres and manage them at the same time.
“I just got it into that little window where the magic happens.”
In the opening part of the race, Magnussen managed to hold on to the Mercedes cars as he gently eased away from teammate Nico Hülkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Nonetheless, most of his day was spent in clean air.
“Except the first stint, I was behind Mercedes. So I was thinking, ‘this might be okay’.
“So yeah, very happy.”
In qualifying, Magnussen was 0.006s ahead of Pierre Gasly as he won out in the battle for P7.
When the chequered flag fell for Gasly who was lapped in P10, he was over 40s adrift of the Dane.
The Danish driver admitted the race pace of his Haas and the gap to the rest of the midfield was a surprise.
“Yeah, a little bit.
“I wasn’t confident on the grid before the race that I was just going to be pulling away. But that ended up being the case.
“Couldn’t have asked more.”
Magnussen had already shown very strong speed in Austin the previous weekend, making Q3 and scoring points in the Sprint.
However, a botched strategy in the Grand Prix cost him valuable points.
He explained that a change to the brakes has given him more confidence to push and extract performance out of the car like teammate Nico Hülkenberg has through most of the campaign.
“I don’t know, I think we made some changes to the brakes, for example.
“I’ve just been very confident in the car. What I need to do is try and hang on to that confidence.
“Something weird has changed in the last two races that has given me a car that I can really push.
“Yeah, I think it’s getting better and better [the feeling].
“As I said, a couple of things apart from the upgrade were changed and [for the] better.
“So certainly I’ve been very confident in the car in the last two races. It’s been nice to drive and it’s been enjoyable.”
In race trim, Magnussen has generally shown good speed this year, but he has struggled a lot to match his German stablemate in qualifying as he trails 5-14.
A new floor and bodywork was added to the VF-24 in Austin, clearly giving the car a bit more speed.
The one-time polesitter explained how the update has helped him feel more confident in the car as the rear of the car is now more compliant.
He also mentioned how the brakes have been a big issue in this area as well until the last two rounds.
“Qualifying as well, when you’re really on the limit, you need to be confident in the brakes. You need to just feel confident that the car is going to do what you ask it to.
“We’ve had a quick car for a while. I just haven’t been confident with it. These last two races, at least, I’ve been confident.
“I think it’s down to some of the changes that were done to the brakes, for example.
“I think the upgrade is also in my direction. We’ve got a stronger rear and a little bit weaker front.
“So I think that’s not bad for me.”
The six points scored by the Dane moved him ahead of Alex Albon in the Drivers’ Championship, where he now sits P13.
