Kevin Magnussen delivered a strong performance at Haas’ home race in Austin, both in the old specification car used for the Sprint and the upgraded version for the main race. After securing seventh place in Saturday’s event, he carried that momentum into qualifying, lining up 9th on Sunday.
Magnussen was running ninth when the team unexpectedly called him in for a second pit stop on Lap 38, while every car ahead of him completed the race on a more favourable one-stop strategy, including teammate Nico Hulkenberg. Magnussen narrowly missed out on a points finish, crossing the line in 11th.
Speaking after the race, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu conceded that “messy communication” led to the poor strategy call.
Asked about the mishap on Thursday in Mexico, Magnussen said: “No, I think it’s clear that we just made a mistake, it wasn’t a good call. So that’s that, I guess.
“There’s a lot more communication than just between me and the team. I think it’s always difficult to involve you guys [the media] too much. We made a mistake, there’s no reason for me to really talk too much more about it. We go through everything and we try and learn from these things.
“You are going to make mistakes and that’s how it is, but yeah, it was unfortunate. We had a really strong weekend—especially on my side I had a really strong weekend as well and I would have liked to score points again on Sunday.”
Magnussen acknowledged the importance of flawless execution when the midfield is so tight, noting that even small missteps can cost valuable points.
“[It’s] very important. Otherwise you don’t score points. It’s very clear. With a competitive field like this, these things are actually going to make the difference.
“Everyone is so close together now. You need to be on top of these things. You need to perform at a very high level. Not just making a good car. There are so many teams now with good cars in the midfield that are so close together. It’s actually going to be how you operate and how you execute that’s going to make the big difference.”
However, Magnussen stressed that the Austin “blunder” shouldn’t overshadow the efforts Haas has made to improve communication and decision-making this year.
“Yeah, I think we’ve tried to look at what we could change. And there has been change. I think it has… It seemed to be better. But then we made this mistake again in Austin. It’s easy to say it doesn’t work, [that] what we did didn’t change anything.
“I think it’s a blunder that we did in Austin. I don’t think that’s to say that we haven’t improved the situation. I think it’s important to have a good structure in who makes the calls, who supports and who gives the feedback. I think we’ve tried to improve that. And I think that’s the best we can do.”
The American team introduced a series of upgrades in Austin, which appeared to boost the car’s competitiveness. Haas came into the weekend three points behind rivals RB but ultimately left Austin two points ahead, sparking discussions about a potential fight for P6 in the Constructors’ standings.
“Yeah, I think it’s been the main motivator of the past several years really, the Constructors’ Championship,” Magnussen said. “As a driver you need to try and find something that you can put your mind to and find your fire from I guess.
“In reality it’s not like my biggest dream in the world to finish 6th in the Constructors Championship, but that’s where we are. We find a big motivation in fighting some big teams. We are an underdog team with by far the smallest team on the grid and we’re taking the fight to some pretty big organisations.”
Magnussen confirmed that finishing sixth will be the team’s main target for this season, adding that for him personally, it’s about doing everything he can to help Haas achieve their goal before they part ways.
“To finish 6th is the goal. I think to come from last in 2023 to fighting for P6 this year is a big step forward, so I think that would be quite satisfying. For myself it’s always just trying to be the best influence on finishing P6.”
The Haas driver acknowledged that their main fight is with RB now, and that outperforming them will be key to securing 6th in the standings.
“It’s quite clear that we need to finish above RB a lot to get this P6. We can afford to lose a couple of points here and there to Williams and Alpine,” he said.
