Magnussen doubts Haas can repeat Spanish GP dominance

Kevin Magnussen doubts Haas will be able to repeat its dominant display at the front of Formula 1’s midfield from the Spanish Grand Prix in Monaco this weekend, but feels the team should still be “in the mix” to be the fourth-fastest team.

Magnussen finished sixth in Spain behind the front-running drivers from Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, taking the chequered flag over half a minute clear of Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jr. and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso as Haas comfortably finished at the front of the midfield.

Riding high after what the Dane inferred was one of his best-ever F1 races, Magnussen said he would be surprised to see Haas enjoy a similar advantage over its midfield rivals in Monaco, but is hopeful of remaining in the fight against Renault and McLaren.

“I think we still should be in that mix, but I don’t think it’s going to be as dominant as in Barcelona. Our car is particularly strong in high-speed and medium-speed corners, and it’s not bad in low speed corners to be honest," Magnussen said.

“But I think that the advantage that we had in Barcelona was in the medium and high speed, and with our car being more efficient this year, it’s also quite quick down the straights even though we can still go faster and have good downforce.

“I hope that we are still at the top, fighting with the top guys in the midfield, but probably not as dominant as last time.”

Having cited Haas’ strength in high- and medium-speed corners, Magnussen said the team could make use of the Monaco weekend to work on improving the mechanical grip of the VF-18 car - crucial for slower circuits such as Monaco and Hungary.

“We’ve done some work to try and get the most out of the car mechanically because our aero is good,” Magnussen said.

“Of course we can still improve, but that part is working well and is well underway in being developed in a nice way. The mechanical part is an area that we don’t really know if we are in the best window or not because the car is working well, so it’s hard to say if we can get more out of it mechanically.

“We’re trying to learn and validate some of our numbers and simulations to try and confirm where we think is right is right.”