Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg are not yet sure whether last year’s problems have been completely resolved, but it is clear to the two Haas drivers that things are improving. It will take a few more races before the American racing team really has a clear picture of its performance, so Magnussen and Hülkenberg do not want to celebrate too early.
Six teams have managed to score points since the start of the 2024 season, and Haas is one of them. Haas took its first World Championship point during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix because Hülkenberg finished in tenth place. Teammate Magnussen contributed by keeping many drivers behind him. Not everyone was happy with that, but it earned Haas a point. Magnussen had no chance of getting into the points with his time penalties, but the German did. “The weekend in Jeddah went positively, despite it not being the best track for us,” said Magnussen, quoted by Speedweek.
“I was able to drive a good pace, and that is our focus this year,” the 31-year-old continues. ‘We don’t really know yet whether we have solved our problems from last year, we still have to do a number of races for that.’ Qualifying went very well in Bahrain, when Hülkenberg managed to qualify tenth. He was unable to get into the points in the race due to an incident in the opening lap. ‘Regardless, we have made progress and achieved a good result with Nico. I’m looking forward to scoring more points, especially in Melbourne where I have good memories of my debut and first podium,” said Magnussen.
Hülkenberg also does not think Haas is rich yet
The 36-year-old from Emmerich agrees with his teammate’s words that it will take some time before Haas knows where she really stands. “Last year Kevin also finished tenth in Jeddah and I scored in Melbourne, but after that it was completely different,” says Hülkenberg. ‘That’s why I don’t want to celebrate too early. I think we have to wait another three or four weekends to really confirm the positive trend.’ Thanks to the one point from Jeddah, Haas is currently in sixth place in the championship. Aston Martin is in fifth place with thirteen points.
