Kevin Magnussen Discusses “extra pressure” of the Team’s Home Race

Kevin Magnussen is looking forward to the chance to score points in Haas F1 Team‘s home race this weekend, in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Formula 1 returns to the United States Grand Prix for the tenth year this weekend, and Haas will be hoping for a rare points finish of late after they returned from the summer break in poor form. Magnussen has taken part in five races in Austin, three of them for Haas, and he is hoping to return to the top ten and add to his twenty-two points this season.

Magnussen discussed his thoughts on the Circuit of the Americas as he looks ahead to the race weekend.

“I don’t think it’s really evolved in terms of how I approach it. It’s a great track, it has become very bumpy so some years when we get there it’s super bumpy and then others, they grind down those bumps so the circuit changes its character a little bit in that way.

“As I said, it’s a great track, especially sector 1 – it’s super high-speed, the ‘esses’ I think are actually some of the coolest corners in F1. There’s a bit too much run-off for my liking but the layout itself is very cool, so I’m looking forward to going back there.

“It’s a pretty unique corner (turn 3). It becomes very wide towards the apex, you can’t actually see the track as it’s over a crest and it’s super wide. The apex itself is very narrow so it creates opportunities for a lot of different lines.

“Overtaking there is a big opportunity with it being straight after a DRS zone as well. There aren’t many corners that have that sort of width to it. It’s kind of easy to lock-up towards the apex because you go over that crest but as you hit the brakes, you’re on that hill so you can brake very hard because of that.

“After Turn 1, you go downhill again into those ‘esses’ and that’s where following becomes a bit tricky so if you’ve got the position, it’s pretty easy to keep it afterwards because of the high-speed corners.” 

Magnussen is looking forward to seeing all the Haas fans in Austin and hopes he can show his appreciation with an entertaining weekend.

“It’s exciting coming back to our home race although you could say we have a few home races now, but COTA is a bit special I feel.

“We’ve got Haas Hill there and I feel it’s one event where we have a bit of extra pressure because I feel like we want to get a good result at our home race.”

Mick Schumacher: “Austin is a track we expect to work pretty well for our car”

Mick Schumacher is currently in a battle to keep his Haas seat ahead of the 2023 season, and he needs a good result to help bolster his chances. Schumacher hasn’t scored points since Austria before the summer break, and with his contract expiring at the end of the year coupled together with speculation about Nico Hulkenberg, a strong result is vital.

However, with the United States Grand Prix being the home race for the team, Schumacher will be even more motivated to impress the fans and the team. The German driver is looking forward to returning to America and is hoping there is a large turnout of Haas fans.

“We have a lot of cool things coming up this week, so I’m ready to get stuck in. This season feels like a completely different experience compared to last year. It was my rookie season, so I spent a lot of time getting used to procedures and learning the car.

“We knew going into it that we wouldn’t be fighting for points, and it would be a challenge, but throughout it all the team maintained their professionalism and never gave up. This season it feels like there’s a buzz around the team and we’re on the up.

“Every person at Haas has worked so hard to get us back up there, so it’s an honor to represent the team, especially when coming to COTA.”

Schumacher has high expectations for the weekend and is hoping Haas can battle it out and try and win some crucial points in their battle for eighth in the Constructors’ Championship

“Austin is a track we expect to work pretty well for our car. We know that recently things have been difficult and usually we’ve been struck by an unlucky race, or weekend in general.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to turn it around at our home race and as we have some nice stuff coming up, that will hopefully bring us luck. I’m excited about hopefully scoring points in the States.” 

Credit: LAT Photo