Nico Hulkenberg was thankful to Kevin Magnussen to secure a point in F1 Saudi Arabian GP, but Visa Cash App RB weren’t too happy with it.
It was quite an effort from Haas to secure a point in F1 Saudi Arabian GP where Hulkenberg scored one with a help from Magnussen. The German went long in his stint, as did the Dane but the latter’s effort allowed the former to pit and retain track position.
An early safety car shuffled the pack where Magnussen had a train of cars he was holding off with the likes of Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda & Daniel Ricciardo, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Williams’ Alexander Albon & Logan Sargeant.
The biggest picks were Tsunoda, Ocon and Albon, who were in a big tussle. There was some rough action between Magnussen and Tsunoda which saw the Dane receive time penalty. That move hampered the Japanese, allowing Ocon and even Albon to pass him.
While Hulkenberg was all praise for his teammate Magnussen, the Visa Cash App RB camp weren’t too pleased with the move seeking intervention of the FIA. In fact, the Dane and even the Haas camp somewhat admitted of the same.
Assist from Magnussen –
Hulkenberg: “Well, one point, but yeah. Obviously happy about that. I think great team effort, great team game by Kevin. I didn’t see it, but I was told that he really helped my case by holding up the pack behind him, which obviously helped or opened up the window for me to take the point. So yeah, very good job from him on that side and thank you. I’ll return the favor later in the season. And then yeah for most part you know, I was by myself, just you know driving pushing to be honest. It was a real push race, it was no tire saving going on. It was flat out so quite physical because I think the pace was pretty high but enjoyed it especially that middle stint on medium was really good. And kind of we had negative deg, I guess like everybody else and it was just you know head down and then flat out.”
Trying different –
Hulkenberg: “Well, without further safety, you never know here, but I think in races like these races here, and when currently we have the top five teams, if they stay in the race, it’s the top ten taken. So I always feel you have to do something unorthodox and something… not so you know logic or what seems like common sense. You know you have to obviously push your luck a little bit and do something different offset yourself. And like in the past that has has often paid off. Obviously there wasn’t a safety guard today that had made it, but it was my teammate that that made that possible.”
Scoring in tight field –
Hulkenberg: “I think in races like this, where we have the top five teams, if they stay in the race, that is the top 10, so I always feel you have to do something unorthodox or something that doesn’t seem like common sense. You have to push your luck a little bit and do something different, offset yourself as it has often paid off in the past.”
Crazy defence –
Magnussen: “The first one, we had contact with Albon, I didn’t mean to but they gave a penalty for that. Fair enough. The second one, I overtook Tsunoda and went outside the track. Rules are rules, I’m not happy with myself getting those two penalties. At least I was able to help the team to create a gap so Nico could pit and get a point. So we showed a good pace today and good teamwork, so at least that’s some really good positives to bring forward.”
Penalty –
Magnussen: “I tried to keep it within the white lines and I didn’t succeed. At the end of the day, it is what it is. I need to do a better job and avoid those penalties. I don’t usually get too many of them but today I got two. That’s not a good day on that front. It’s a bit harsh, but we’ll look at it and see.”
Frustration over losing place –
Tsunoda: “It was pretty frustrating, probably my mistake was I let Kevin by. But at the same time he overtook me four wheels outside. Okay, he got a 20-second penalty, but he was cruising around. So that felt a bit unfair, but at the same time truth is I also let him go. So that was my mistake. I think if I could have done a 100 per cent job, I think I could save it and try to overtake the car in front. I can understand his perspective. He helped the team to score points, he just tried to do whatever he can do to save the position.”
Dangerous –
Tsunoda: “He was pretty dangerous, and I almost crashed in Turn 2. I wouldn’t say it was fair, but I have to understand his fight. I cannot overtake and smash the car. The position we’re fighting is always pretty difficult, but at same time these are things to be a better driver, I have to still overtake him. I wouldn’t say it was easy, and still it was really hard to be on the track. But I think there are a lot of things at the same time where I can do a better job than that, so I have to accept it.”
Here’s how F1 Saudi Arabian GP panned out
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