After a poor weekend for the Haas F1 team, Kevin Magnussen has stated that the team were not surprised by the VF22’s lack of performance at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Starting in twelfth, Magnussen made a strong start as the Dane found himself occupying a place inside the points within the first three laps.
However, a lack of top speed around the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, soon saw the Haas driver tumbling down the order.
Coming out in eighteenth place after his second and final pit-stop, Magnussen was only able to gain two places before the chequered flag for an eventual sixteenth-place finish.
Speaking after the race, Magnussen was already looking to put a tough Belgian Grand Prix behind him and the team.
“I think we had an idea that this wasn’t going to be such a strong weekend. This type of track isn’t really our track so we tried what we could, but we didn’t really have the pace today. All in all, it hasn’t been the best of weekends, but we’ve got more running, collected more data and that will be useful going forward. I’m looking forward to the next race.”
Mick Schumacher: “It was frustrating not having any top speed compared to the cars around us”
Credit: Haas F1 Team
Starting on the back row of the grid after a penalty for new engine components, Mick Schumacher was left with it all to do at Spa and, like his teammate, struggled to get any real performance out of his VF22.
Schumacher had gained five places from his original starting position by the time the safety-car had come out but the VF22’s lack of top speed soon saw Schumacher plummet down the order after the safety-car restart.
The German driver found himself in as high as thirteenth-place shortly before pitting for the first time in the race. Struggling to gain any real momentum in the race during his second stint, Schumacher would come home for a seventeenth-place finish.
Despite the poor showing for the Haas F1 team, Schumacher remained hopeful that the team’s struggles this weekend were track dependent and that the Zandvoort circuit would suit the VF22 just like the Hungaroring did before the summer break.
“It was tough, especially after the safety car restart to see those cars driving by. It was frustrating not having any top speed compared to the cars around us. On the other hand, it’s great to be here and great to be driving in front of so many people, some German!
“I think it was circuit specific that we struggled this week but with Zandvoort coming up we should be in a better position where we should be able to fight for points again and also, we should have a better read on the upgrade where it’s more comparable to Budapest. I expect us to go a bit forward and hopefully it will give us some points.”