Kevin Magnussen has been praised by Haas staff boss Guenther Steiner for taking a extra mature and relaxed strategy to his F1 return, and a few mid-season struggles, over the course of the 2022 marketing campaign.
Magnussen beforehand raced for Haas from 2017 to 2020 however was dropped – together with then-team mate Romain Grosjean – for 2021, with Haas bringing in rookie pairing Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
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Nonetheless, when Haas parted methods with Mazepin within the build-up to the 2022 season, they referred to as on Magnussen to switch him, the Dane marking his shock return with a sensational P5 end within the Bahrain opener.
Additional prime 10 finishes adopted in Saudi Arabia, Imola, Britain and Austria, earlier than a more difficult seven-race spell outdoors the factors – a run finally damaged with P9 in Japan and a shocking late-season pole place amid moist/dry situations in Brazil.
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Reflecting on Magnussen’s return, alongside along with his and the staff’s fluctuating kind, Steiner mentioned: “I believe when he got here again in, he scored factors [at the first race], he had the staff behind him. Then I might say, simply after the summer time break, he struggled just a little bit and we don’t actually know why.
“However then he got here again, so it’s just a bit bit that we have to get the ups and downs out of the staff. I wouldn’t say solely of Kevin, you recognize. We have to analyse why we’ve so many ups and downs, and we did a few of this job.
“Hopefully subsequent 12 months we will come again extra steady, you recognize, that you’ve got a superb efficiency more often than not. You at all times have gotten a foul occasion or one thing, however we simply must stabilise all the things.
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“For [Kevin], as effectively, coming again to kind. It’s a protracted schedule, loads of races, however he now handles it effectively, and I believe I actually sit up for subsequent 12 months.”
Steiner added his perception that Magnussen is now calmer, extra relaxed and extra mature, with their earlier stint collectively together with an notorious workplace door-related run-in – as captured in Season 2 of Netflix’s Drive To Survive sequence.
READ MORE: ‘Mick did a superb job, however we’d like a driver to hold us’ – Steiner on why Haas went for Hulkenberg over Schumacher
He additionally pointed to the expertise of Magnussen’s new full-time race engineer, Mark Slade, who took up the function from the Singapore Grand Prix, having beforehand labored for the likes of Renault, Mercedes and McLaren.
“I imply, he’s simply matured, you recognize, by getting older. All of us get calmer and see issues typically just a little bit in a different way,” the Italian staff boss continued.
“He’s more often than not very relaxed about issues, and now with the mix of Mark with him, I hope sooner or later we’ll see even a greater Kevin.”
