F1 | Haas scores points with an unorthodox vehicle: Magnussen

The top 5 teams continue to divide the available points, but Haas took the satisfaction of snatching a point at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a good race pace and teamwork that worked perfectly.

Nico Hulkenberg finished tenth, giving the US team the first point, but it was a point that everyone really contributed to. Kevin Magnussen, penalized several times for a series of errors, was literally used as a shield for Hulkenberg.

Both did an excellent job: the Dane defended great, free from the pressure of having to get a result. The German, however, maintained a more than discreet pace, gaining just enough margin to take home the point. A similar defense was put up by Fernando Alonso in allowing Esteban Ocon to win the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. Fernando, however, in that case was not penalized at all and kept Lewis Hamilton behind for the necessary laps.

“Well, one point but yes, obviously I'm happy, I think Kevin did a great team job, a great team game, I didn't see it”, declared Hulkenberg at the end of the race. “But I was told that he helped my case a lot by keeping the group behind him, which obviously helped or, like, opened the window for me to take the point. So yeah, he did a great job from that point of view. And thank you. I will return the favor later in the season.”

“And then yes, for most of the time I was alone, you know, driving, pushing, to be honest, it was a real push race. There was no saving on tyres, it was a flat out race, so quite physical, because I think the pace was quite high. But I enjoyed it. Especially in the middle stint, the medium tires were really good. I had a bit of degradation, I think, like everyone else.”

Hulkenberg explained well that, for the mid-group teams, getting to the points means having to dare. With the top 5 teams far superior to the others, it is necessary to think and implement creative, unorthodox strategies to try to achieve the desired result. Lance Stroll's retirement at the start of the race helped, but the point achieved was by no means a given.

“In the situation we are in, if the top 5 teams have no problems in the race, to score points you have to come up with something unorthodox and something not so logical or that seems like common sense. You have to push your luck and do something different to compensate for your shortcomings. And this paid off. Today my teammate made all this possible.”

Ayao Komatsu, Haas team principal, explained well how the team decided to take advantage of Magnussen's compromised race to still reach the goal thanks to Hulkenberg. For Haas the point was considered a victory due to the large margin that the top 5 teams (Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin) have over the remaining 5.

“Once Magnussen took the penalty there was no way to get him into the points. The only one who could do that was Hulkenberg at that point. At that point we realized we had to allow Nico to have enough of a gap to finish in tenth place taking advantage of Kevin's work. And that's what we did.”

“The teams in the middle of the group can only fight for tenth place. We know this from Bahrain. So for us, finishing tenth is equivalent to a real victory. It's the best we can aspire to. Kevin's penalty was a shame , but we still gave our best.”