Kevin Magnussen devoted a break between races to intensive training and ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Danish driver Haas F1 is quite optimistic.
Question A three week backlog – what did you do and how did you spend your time off the racetracks?
Kevin Magnussen: I spent this time in Denmark, and the three weeks were good for me, because I spent them on active training. As the season progresses, there is rarely an opportunity to get such a long window of time to train and get in shape every day.
It was great, and of course I also just spent time with my family and recovered.
Q: The Australian Grand Prix is memorable for many reasons. And even though you didn’t make it to the finish, you were probably happy for Nico Hulkenberg as he managed to show what the VF-23 is capable of and earn Haas’ first points of the season?
Kevin Magnussen: Of course my race was not the best way, but on the other hand Niko earned points – it’s great. Even if you failed to perform well, the partner still had their say as we want to take the highest possible place in the Constructors’ Championship and improve on last year’s result when our team was eighth. We will try to fulfill this task, but for this we need to show stable results throughout the year.
Q: The fourth stage of the season is just around the corner and it will be held on the city track in Baku. Haas drivers haven’t been able to earn points there since 2017, and it was you who took 7th place then – do you think the VF-23 will break the long “lean” period?
Kevin Magnussen: I hope we can earn points this year. Last year we claimed to finish in the top ten, but my car’s engine cut out. Overall, we were able to set a good pace last year, but technical issues prevented us from reaching the finish.
I hope this time we can spend the weekend with confidence and avoid any problems. I have a positive attitude.
Question: The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled for the first sprint race this year. Last year you managed to earn points in all these weekends – is there any reason to believe that this format will suit both you and the team?
Kevin Magnussen: I don’t think there is a particular reason why we could score points with the sprint all weekends, but of course I hope we can continue this trend, we have such a goal.
I think the car has good pace and I hope we can use it in both Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s race.
Q: Formula 1 and the FIA have approved two separate qualifications for the sprint and the race. Do you support this approach, or would you rather have three traditional workouts at your disposal to properly tune the machine?
Kevin Magnussen: I think two qualifiers is not a bad idea because it means that in the sprint it will be possible to give the best of the best a bit more. From now on, there is no risk of ending up in the last rows of the grid on Sunday, if you don’t make it to the finish on Saturday for whatever reason. With the weekend’s new format, the risk is more responsible, and this benefits the entertainment, and the riders will have more fun.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
