Kevin Magnussen admits he ‘took one for the team’ after Haas F1 decision

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Kevin Magnussen has admitted that he ‘took one for the team’ at the Abu Dhabi GP as Haas could only hand Nico Hulkenberg the older specification of their Formula 1 car.

This year was one Haas will hope to forget quickly after struggling for results during much of the season. Magnussen could only claim P19 in the drivers’ championship with three points. Hulkenberg also only earnt nine points for P16 as Haas ended 2023 as the worst constructor.

Haas were the eighth-best outfit on the grid in 2022 but slipped to 10th place after failing to overcome their issues with the VF-23. While Magnussen and Hulkenberg would occasionally claim results in qualifying, the car’s woeful tyre preservation saw them struggle in the races.

Nico Hulkenberg beat Kevin Magnussen in their head-to-head battle

Magnussen achieved his best qualifying of the year at the Miami GP with P4. Yet Hulkenberg eclipsed his teammate’s efforts with P2 in Canada. The 36-year-old also made Q3 for eight races to Magnussen’s three. Hulkenberg even exited in Q1 five times to the 31-year-old’s 12.

Haas further saw Hulkenberg come out on top in his head-to-head battle with Magnussen in 13 Grand Prix to nine. The German also won their Sprint Shootout head-to-head battle four-two. But Magnussen had the edge in the Sprints with a four-two record in the Dane’s favour.

Hulkenberg, however, only ended one Grand Prix in the points with his P7 result in Australia back in April. Magnussen, on the other hand, finished in the top 10 in Saudi Arabia, Miami and Singapore. But each of the Roskilde native’s points-scoring Grand Prix were P10 results.

Kevin Magnussen admits his frustrations with Haas’ upgrade plans

Haas tried to solve their issues with the VF-23 with a major upgrade package for their home United States GP in October. But the upgrades did not work out as the team hoped. So, they split the specifications of the cars Magnussen and Hulkenberg drove during the final rounds.

Hulkenberg resumed using Haas’ previous spec parts at the Las Vegas GP and Magnussen kept the upgrades. But the race’s back-to-back schedule with the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP ensured Haas could not then hand Magnussen their older parts at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Magnussen has now admitted that he wanted to have Haas’ older specification VF-23 at the Abu Dhabi GP. But he ‘took one for the team’ and stuck with their upgrades given the quick turnaround between the races. He saw the benefits it could provide Haas for their 2024 car.

“I think we’ve learned,” Magnussen explained, via quotes by Motorsport Week. “It was good to get some track information from this type of car. Although it wasn’t better, I think it was good that we ran the two cars next to each other for a couple of races.

“I would have liked maybe just one race for that and then go back to the old one. But that logistically wasn’t possible. So, I guess I took one for the team. But [I was] happy to do that and look forward to next year.”