Magnussen: New products make a good impression

Training in Miami was ambiguous for Haas F1: Nico Hulkenberg finished the first session on the 9th line of the protocol, but crashed the car in the 3rd corner, only to finish 17th in the second. Kevin Magnussen showed the 12th fastest time, but the team believes the results do not reflect the true capabilities of the VF-23.

Kevin Magnussen (12th): “I think we did well today. In the first session, a number of new components prepared for this race were tested and they worked effectively. That’s why I kept checking them in the second session – they seem to make a good impression.

The high fuel load series also went well, so everything is going according to plan. Hopefully we can get back to it on Saturday. I think we are going to the second part of qualifying, maybe even the third. The results are very tight and only a few tenths separate the 10th result from the 15th result, so we have something to fight for.”

Nico Hulkenberg (17th): “I overdid it, I wanted to get results quickly, so I had to pay for the rush. Sometimes it happens – luckily the car didn’t sustain too serious damage and the second session went well.

I feel the handling is OK, I really like this track and it suits our car well. It was my first time here in a Formula 1 car, the track is quite organic in configuration, technical and difficult, so despite the accident the day went well.

Gunter Steiner, team leader: “The day went well, although you don’t see it on the outside. The only minor issue was Nico’s crash in the first session, but the team did a great job and he was able to get back on track in the second session.

The results in the protocol do not fully reflect our speed, as Niko ended up in heavy traffic during a fast lap in the second sector. Overall we are happy because it seems that the novelties are working well, so we are preparing to return to the track on Saturday to perform well in qualifying.