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Kevin Magnussen described the Italian Grand Prix as “horrendous” after another difficult race but also admits that he must stay patient as Haas tries to improve its VF-23.
Despite the Haas clearly having better qualifying pace, Magnussen was only able to qualify 19th. The Dane was one of only three drivers to start on the hard compound tyre rather than the medium.
The two other drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas executed good races on the same strategy as the Haas driver. However, the Dane could not emulate what the pair did – finishing inside the top 10.
Haas have been known for their poor tyre degradation this season, significantly hampering their race pace. Hulkenberg has been the culprit, qualifying superbly but then falling back during the race.
Poor tyre wear
Magnussen’s planned strategy was to have a long opening stint on the hard tyre to then switch on to the medium later on in the race.
However, the Dane was lacking grip on the hard tyre, resulting in an early stop. The Haas driver would pit as early as lap 12, switching to a two stop, which ruined his race.
Magnussen was asked by Motorsport.com about the failed tyre gamble, which the Dane believes it “should have been possible”. However, the 30-year-old said he had “no grip at all”.
“And the car was so over-balanced, there was no chance. I mean, we couldn’t even take off enough front wing. The flap couldn’t go down low enough. And horrendous, really bad.
“I mean, we were talking about going all the way to the end on that first hard to then maybe hope for a late safety car, or do a bit like [Alex] Albon did in Melbourne, try something like that. But no chance whatsoever.”
Patience required
Both Magnussen and Hulkenberg signed a new deal with Haas before the Italian Grand Prix. The pair will both stay with the American team for the 2024 season. The pair will be hoping for improvements, especially for next year.
The 30-year-old has accepted the reality of having to be patient for improvements to be made to the VF-23. However, the Dane has said that “work is being done in the background” to resolve the issues:
“The work is being done in the background, and we just have to be patient on it until we can bring those parts to the car.”
“At the end of the day, we got a job to do, and we need to crack on until we until we get those parts, and we can’t cry about what we’ve got at the moment, we’ve just got to work with what we have and always try and get something out of it, no matter how difficult it looks.”
Magnussen still believes that Haas can make improvements as he believes that the team is in the best shape of its history, describing it has a “strong foundation”.
“So it really is a patience game. It’s about really sticking it out with what we have at the moment, and waiting for better things.”
Feature Image Credit: Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images