Pre Race
Ciaooooo Monzaaaa!!! 💥
The Italian Grand Prix is underway – and Kevin Magnussen is back, ready for another high-powered race weekend together with the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. This weekend’s race will take place at the legendary Monza, also known as the ‘Temple of Speed’ – and since it’s located just two hours’ drive from Maranello, hometown of the Haas team’s long-term partner Ferrari, it’s one of the more special weekends on the calendar.
“I like Monza, it’s one of the iconic races of the year. It’s a historic track. It’s an old track and it has a lot of character. It’s unique with the long straights and the low downforce that we run there, it’s a real slipstream race. It’s unique in every way – the way of your driving style, the way you race other people, and it has a fantastic atmosphere as well. With all the Italian team members at Haas, it’s also one of the races where we want to do a little bit extra as it’s a semi-home race in some ways,” says K-Mag.
It’s no secret that the American team have had some tough weekends this year, but the Danish Formula 1 driver remains positive on the second half of the season.
“We’re having a tough time this season, but there’s a lot of potential in the team and we’re heading in a good direction, we just need to improve on our car currently. I think we’re doing a lot of good work this year and I’m excited to see where we can take it for next season,” says Kevin.
FUN FACTS: Monza – or the ‘Autodromo Nazionale di Monza’ – has hosted an impressive 72 Formula 1 races, which is more than any other circuit in the history. I was first used in 1922, and since then it has been the home of Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix, absent only once in 1980, when renovation works were undertaken. The circuit has evolved across the decades, with the famed banked oval discontinued in the 1960s, while chicanes were ultimately added, redesigned, and refined. Nevertheless, Monza remains one of the fastest circuits on the planet, with Lewis Hamilton clocking an average lap speed of 264.363km/h – the quickest lap in Formula 1 history – during qualifying in 2020.
Day #2
Post-qual update from the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix at Monza, where Kevin Magnussen will start Sunday’s race from a P19.
“I was quite happy on the soft tire in the practice sessions, we looked pretty decent on that tire but we just didn’t have the same balance on the hard tire – unfortunately. It’s typical that during an ATA (alternative tyre allocation, edit.) weekend we look like we have some decent pace, but not on the hard. Anyway, the race is tomorrow, and I hope we can find something on the other compounds and be a bit more competitive,” said K-Mag after the qualifying.
Day #3
“We have a steep hill to climb”
It went from ‘pretty ok’ in practice to ‘not good’ in race for Kevin Magnussen who finished Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix on a disappointing P18 – just one place behind teammate Nico Hulkenberg who ended on a P17. Despite being among the faster cars in the field during the practice sessions, both Hass drivers struggled to find the pace in the race at the historic Monza circuit.
“It was probably the worst race as we just had no pace at all, the tires were falling apart and there was no balance. We have a steep hill to climb. It’s really confusing though because in FP3 we were P7, and today we were the slowest by a big margin. There was just no pace – we need to turn this ship around,” said Magnussen after the race.
But giving up is not an option – and there’s a new race coming up. K-Mag, Hulk, and the rest of the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team will be ready for another challenge when the Singapore Grand Prix will be green flagged on Sunday the 17th of September.
