Bahrain Grand Prix – Kevin Magnussen has attempted to play down any expectations about Haas’ pace at this weekend’s race in Sakhir.
Following a heart-breaking start to the season – where a double-retirement prevented a big points score – the Haas team are looking reclaim lost points at the Bahrain International Circuit.
The pace demonstrated by the team placed them as the fourth-quickest team in Melbourne, but Kevin Magnussen cautioned that there can be no performance guarantees.
“It was good to have a competitive car in Australia. I enjoyed driving the car all weekend,” said Magnussen, “but there’s no guarantee we’ll be that strong in Bahrain, so we have to work hard to try and understand the car and make sure we carry the performance forward into the next race.
“It felt really good being competitive and being able to compete at the right end of the series. I hope we can continue that way.
“I’m not taking anything for granted. Again, we have a good car, but I’m cautious. We’ll take it one race at a time.
“It would be great to have a good result in Bahrain after such big disappointment in Australia. We’ve got to start building points, as we’ve fallen behind after Australia. We’ve got to catch up.”
Team principal Guenther Steiner added that he wanted a “good result” to make amends for the opening race.
“I think if we achieve a good result in Bahrain, we will forget about Melbourne,” said Steiner, “If we don’t, we’ll dwell over what happened in Australia until the time we have a fantastic result, or time gets us over it. The aim is to do everything right and come home with a good result.
“We will see when we get there. I think the car is competitive. Will it be the same as Australia, compared to the opposition? I don’t know, because I don’t know what they’re doing. Again, I’m cautiously optimistic that it can be done.”
