Haas F1: Mixed Fortunes for Hülkenberg and Magnussen

Haas F1 experienced contrasting races in Miami, with Hülkenberg narrowly missing points and Magnussen facing penalties.

Nico Hülkenberg finished just outside the points at the Miami GP, after missing the chance to overtake Esteban Ocon. The Haas F1 driver is not disappointed about missing the tenth place, and is pleased with a solid weekend.

“It’s a good weekend, it would have been the icing on the cake to have a point. Unfortunately, we weren’t fast enough in the first part of the race, in the first stint and the first half of the second, we weren’t good enough with the balance when there was fuel in the car,” said Hülkenberg.

“The VSC was not ideal, but with the Safety Car, we were able to stop and we came back to two stops and it got us back in the race. I enjoyed the race, I don’t think we could have done things differently or better.”

The German confirms that Haas wants to fight for sixth place overall: “There is momentum, for sure. We will have more developments at Imola to complete the package we have been building since Shanghai, and we hope that will help us and get us closer to the RBs who are very strong at the moment.”

C, with a clash on track, and two errors in the application of his penalty. He is still under investigation and could see his total points dangerously approach 12, which would mean a suspension.

“Not a good day, again. I hope to get some clarification on things. What happened today is not right, but we move forward and will try to have a better weekend next time,” said the Dane.

He received two penalty points for sending Logan Sargeant into the wall. The stewards were again quite lenient, as he could have taken three points, especially as they judged him “entirely at fault.” His total is 10 points, and he won’t recover any this year. Suffice to say that a suspension is very close for Magnussen.

A ‘Disappointing’ But Not Dramatic Weekend

Haas director Ayao Komatsu regrets the missed points today but reminds that the season’s start has been positive for his team, and they will normally continue to stay in the fight with the upcoming new developments.

“The day was a bit tough today but ultimately, especially in the first half of the race when the car was heavy, we really didn’t have the pace, especially with the hard tires,” noted the Japanese.

“It hurt us, but after the safety car, we put on the medium tires to try to get back into the points and we got close to the top 10 – Nico finished 11th, so that’s positive.”

“It’s disappointing today but overall, we have scored points in four out of six events, and that’s the positive we need to remember. For Imola, we have other things coming on our car so we will see what we can do there.”