The previous
It was the post-race of Hungarian Grand Prix 2017 when Kevin Magnusseninterviewed on Danish TV, was interrupted by Nico Hülkenbergwho arrived behind him. The German, at the time with Renault, complained to the Haas driver about an excessively aggressive defense, which led to the #27 going off the track. A very similar maneuver which, in the past, Magnussen had always carried out to the detriment of Hülkenberg, who quickly highlighted both facts. The Dane's response, without too many courtesy and in front of the microphones, was not long in coming: “Suck my balls”. Seven years after that episode, few would have imagined seeing the two drivers as team mates in Haasbut not only.
Magnussen defends Hulkenberg
In the last Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Magnussen accumulated two time penalties for two different infringements, eventually finding himself in 11th position own behind Hülkenberg, 10th and in the points. At the suggestion of Haas, who in the radio teams repeatedly asked the Dane to protect Hülkenberg from the chasing group, Magnussen implemented a amazing defense fending off the attacks of the riders behind him, thus allowing the German to finish in the points.
The unthinkable promise
A strategy much appreciated by Haas and by Hülkenberg himself, who made a promise to his teammate, once his rival: “One point goes a long way these days – commented – I thought it was a very clean race and a really good race from the team from a strategy point of view. We split the cars during the Safety Car, which was discussed before the race, and it worked well. At the restart, when the fastest cars disappeared, I managed to get free air, have a good pace and a good rhythm. I think this was fundamental, but also Kevin's teamwork who slowed down the others today to allow me to make a window in the pits. It was a perfect team effort, and I'll return the favor over the course of the season“.
Magnussen's version
On the other hand, Magnussen expressed himself as follows about his race and his strategy in defense of Hülkenberg: “I showed good pace, but unfortunately I got two penalties, so it's certainly not a great day for me, but I think I made up for it with the effort to keep everyone behind to create a gap for Nico in the pits. He got a point, so it's very important and at the moment I'm not fighting for the championship, so the real fight is in the constructors' championship, and I'm happy to score a point. It's a great result for the team, we deserved it today, and it's really positive that we have the pace – for the second race in a row we showed that we have good pace.”
Teamwork
Other words, finally, from a satisfied team principal Ayao Komatsu: “Today was a incredible team work and I am very happy that it was the result of great team work. We were fighting for P10 – one point – but against eight other drivers, so everything had to be perfect to seize the opportunity. Today Kevin suffered some penalties, but once we realized that he was out of the fight for points, we made a great choice and Kev drove fantastic to keep those guys at baysetting a target lap time, and Nico drove flawlessly. It was a great team effort, well done to everyone and I can't wait for the next race.”
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