Haas would never have imagined such a start to the season. After two years spent in the rear, the American team managed to redeem itself in the opening race of 2022, immediately scoring points with the returning Kevin Magnussen.
The Dane was the protagonist of an incredible weekend, which started with the seventh time obtained in qualifying and ended with the fifth place in the race thanks to the sensational double retirement of Red Bull in the final laps of the GP.
The satisfaction was enormous not only for Magnussen, but also for Gunther Steiner. The South Tyrolean, after a 2021 spent swallowing bitter morsels and after a financial situation that became complicated with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, was finally able to show off the smile of the best days.
When asked if he understood how Haas managed to achieve this result, Steiner immediately gave away a pearl worthy of Drive to Survive: “I don’t want to understand it, I want to live this dream!”.
“Kevin knew he had a good car. We had seen it since qualifying, but we needed to capitalize on it ”.
“So far the longest stint we had done was 18 laps. We got a good result, the team didn’t do anything wrong. Everything was prepared very well “.
“Even during qualifying everyone did their job to perfection and made the right decisions at the right time. It was a very positive weekend ”.
Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22, celebrated by his team at the finish
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Last year, the American team closed the championship with zero points after deciding to field two rookies, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, at the wheel of a single-seater daughter of the one that took to the track in 2020 and with no developments other than those required to adapt the car to the changes imposed by the regulation.
After the first race of the season, Haas is in third place in the standings, but Steiner is rightly aware that this position is bound to change over time.
“I don’t think we’ll stay there long, but for now, let’s enjoy the dream. We’ve had to get by for the past two years. Now we are back! ”.
“This result is something special because everyone had lost faith in this very short period of time. In 2018 we finished fifth and we were competitive, while in 2019, with a non-performing car, people lost confidence. We started talking about team sales and other nonsense, and instead we’re still here and we’re back ”.
Although the fifth place obtained yesterday by Magnussen came thanks to the double retirement of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the final stages, Steiner said he was certain that the team will be able to continue scoring points in the future.
“We don’t have to sit on our laurels because Alfa Romeo also seemed very strong. We must continue to work and improve the car even with the updates that we will bring forward, but I’m pretty sure we will continue to score points ”.
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