Magnussen disappointed to leave ‘the hardest race I’ve ever done’ without points

Kevin Magnussen’s efforts to take points in the Miami Grand Prix ended up in vain after a late collision – a DNF made even more painful as the Danish driver said it was the “hardest race” of his career.

Haas finished their first home race of the season without points, Magnussen failing to see the flag having collided with Lance Stroll late on, and Mick Schumacher being classified 15th after crashing into Sebastian Vettel in the races final stages. Magnussen said the blistering heat added another challenge to his Sunday.

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“It was the hardest race I’ve ever done, it was unbelievably hot,” he said. “I had to do that last stint with damage to the front wing but even with that damage we got ourselves into a position to fight for P10.

“We were catching Alonso and he had a time penalty, but it is what it is – we tried everything we could and didn’t get points, onto the next one.”

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Looking back at his incident with Stroll just after the late Safety Car restart – the collision coming as the Haas battled with the Aston Martin for P12 – Magnussen added: “Yes, I mean I tried to brake late, we both did. I couldn’t stop enough to turn in, so I ran into him.”

The point-less result leaves Haas eighth in the championship with 15 points before the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix – with Team Principal Guenther Steiner unable to conceal his frustration after the race.

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“Clearly not the day we wanted,” said Steiner, “especially this being one of our home events. The pace in the car was there and it was demonstrated by both drivers, but once again we got unlucky with some events on track.

“We then had to retire Kevin’s car on the second-to-last lap with damage he’d sustained earlier while he was fighting to get back into the top 10. We learn lessons in races like this and we have to apply those lessons moving forward to better ourselves.”