19/07/2020
NEWS STORY
Haas F1 Team scored its first points of the 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship with Kevin Magnussen P9, and Romain Grosjean P15, at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Wet weather prior to the start at the Hungaroring prompted the grid to line up on Pirelli's Cinturato Green intermediate tires - all with the exception of Magnussen on the Blue wet tires, but Haas F1 Team made a bold call and brought both drivers into the pit lane at the end of the formation lap to switch to the Yellow medium compound.
It meant Magnussen and Grosjean took the start from the pit lane and joined at the tail of the pack - but they soon reaped the reward. As the circuit dried rapidly those in front all had to make a change to dry-weather tires and Magnussen rose up to P3, with Grosjean P4.
As the front-runners came back into play both drivers had to turn on the rear-guard action while preserving their older tires for as long as possible. Grosjean came in on lap 35 for a set of the White hard tires, emerging P13, while Magnussen boxed on lap 37, also for a set of the harder rubber, rejoining in P9.
Magnussen preserved that position through to the checkered flag, his ninth-place finish earning two points to kick-start Haas F1 Team's 2020 tally, while Grosjean ensured both VF-20s reached the finish as he classified in P15.
The result leaves Haas F1 Team ninth overall in the Constructors' Championship after the opening three rounds of the 2020 season.
Romain Grosjean: "It was a good move from the team. I had radioed and said it was too dry for the inters, so we took the gamble. The first few laps were a bit hairy but after that things worked really well. The pace was good. I started to have graining on the front left tire, we hadn't protected it enough. Anyway, it was going okay, then sadly - and I need to review it, Albon had quite a late move on me at turn one, he hit my front wing and damaged it. I had much less performance in the car after that. We tried but things went out of sync after that, we just couldn't stay in the points."
Kevin Magnussen: "I'm so happy. The team made an amazing call before the beginning of the race - on the formation lap, to call for the slicks. It was really strong for them to give me that trust, to put me out on dry tires and in conditions that weren't easy. It was pretty risky, but it worked out. The pace was there and having started from the pit lane, after a few laps I was in P3. I knew that wouldn't be our final placing, but it was amazing to be up there in the race. I just tried to hang on to it as much as I could. I kept working with the team regarding where realistically we were going to be. In the end it was P9 - I held on to it and we had opened the gap to a Ferrari and then kept the McLaren away as well. It shows what a good car we had in the race. It's proved that the team has done an amazing job even though we've been struggling a little bit in qualifying."
Guenther Steiner: "It was a great result for the team today finishing ninth and bringing some points home. It's fantastic, as at the moment we're not in a position to do this under normal circumstances. The call at the beginning of the race was the decision which made this happen, the guys then just kept it up. Kevin (Magnussen) did a fantastic job in the race, Romain (Grosjean) just had a few issues with the tires. Thanks to the whole team for putting in the hard work and keeping on pushing - they never gave up; we never give up."
Check out our Race Day gallery from Budapest, here.