15/10/2023
NEWS STORY
Kevin Magnussen has warned fans "not to expect miracles" as Haas prepares to introduce its much-anticipated upgrade at the United States Grand Prix.
Week in, week out, race in, race out, the words from Guenther Steiner have followed the same theme... "it is what it is".
Almost from the get-go Haas has been aware of the shortcomings of its 2023 contender, particularly in terms of its punishment of its tyres, and while it soon became clear that the American outfit couldn't wait until the VF-23 consigned to the scrap heap, there was a little light at the end of the tunnel in the shape of the update to be introduced at Austin.
However, days before the much-anticipated update is revealed, Kevin Magnussen has poured cold water on fans' hopes, warning them not to expect miracles.
I'm happy we get this upgrade for the next race, I'm excited about it," said the Dane, according to Speedcafe. "It's really positive for the team to have that to look forward to, to get some new tools to play with, and hopefully we can find more performance.
"But I don't think it's realistic to expect miracles in the first race," he warned. Of course, we all wish for that at night when we go to sleep. But realistically it will take us a race or two to figure it out. I'm just really glad we can leave this behind and move on."
Alfa Romeo's double points finish at the weekend saw the Italian/Swiss outfit leapfrog Haas, which now only has AlphaTauri to cushion it from the bottom of the standings.
Indeed, following teammate Nico Hulkenberg's sixth-place finish in Austria, Magnussen's tenth-place in Singapore marked the only point from the last nine races, a far cry for the successive points finishes in Jeddah and Melbourne.
Admitting that he too doesn't "know how good the upgrade will be", team boss Steiner is hopeful there will be "something good out of it".
"The best thing is that we're going in the direction we want to go for next year," he says, "and we will learn a lot this year for next season.
"At least we know we're doing things to move forward, we're not sitting here waiting for the end of the season. We will work hard until the end."