Although Romain Grosjean was the top scorer at Haas again, Kevin Magnussen has plenty to be pleased about his first season at the team.
Grosjean seemed to suffer more from the peaky performance of the VF-17. His highs were higher – he was fantastic in Austria – but the lows were lower, and usually punctuated by furious radio messages.
Magnussen scored his best result in Azerbaijan where he briefly held third place. This was well above where the car was capable of finishing at another track which didn’t seem to suit it, and he took the chequered flag in seventh. This was much better than his unhappy team mate who spent most of the weekend reversing out of run-off areas.
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The pair ended the year next to each other in the points standings. While Grosjean racked up the most points and had more points-scoring finished than Magnussen, it wasn’t as emphatic a victory as he arguably needs at this stage in his career.
In races where both drivers saw the chequered flag Magnussen was ahead more often than not. It was his qualifying which usually let him down.
Next year Haas will have continuity in its driver line-up for the first time. If either Grosjean or Magnussen is going to break out of the midfield and stake a claim for a seat at a top team, they’re going to have to put the other firmly in the shade in 2018.
Grosjean vs Magnussen: The scores
Grosjean vs Magnussen: Season results
| AUS | CHI | BAH | RUS | SPA | MON | CAN | AZE | AUS | GRE | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | MAL | JAP | UNI | MEX | BRA | ABU | ||
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| Kevin Magnussen | Q | |
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2017 F1 season review
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- 2017 F1 season in stats: The 68th season in context
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- Take the F1 Fanatic 2017 end-of-season quiz
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Ben Needham (@ben-n)
1st December 2017, 11:17
I have to say I was far more impressed with Magnussen than Grosjean this year, despite the points gap. Grosjean seemed to have regressed this year and was frequently found off-form or in the wall. Strange that he can do so well when he switches it on.
Magnussen had a slightly messy year and brought out a lot of frustration from his colleagues, notably Hulkenberg and Alonso, but I didn’t see much in his driving that I wouldn’t have expected from, say, Verstappen… aggressive on the brink of unfair, but it would probably be praised if he was driving for the win or a podium, rather than 12th place.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
1st December 2017, 21:18
Interestingly, I thought Grosjean and Magnussen were very closely matched, but on closer inspection I came to the conclusion that Grosjean was in fact far superior. He was very fast in Australia and Austria and should have scored a lot of points in both races, whereas Magnussen’s best result was a 7th place in the Azerbaijan demolition derby. I must say Grosjean was very unimpressive at the end of the season and I’m not even surprised that Magnussen finished ahead of him most of the time. Last year, Gutiérrez managed to do the same thing, even though he was unable to score any points.
Kaygee964
1st December 2017, 22:38
Mag was the fastest of the two in austria P1,P2,P3 and Q1 (look it up), but had an unlucky suspension breakdown in Q2. In the race he had a hydraulic problem and had to retice. He could have finished ahead of Gro, but then again in race you never know. But he had the speed.
RenaultFM1
2nd December 2017, 8:17
I think Kevin has to work hard on get those qualifying laps because that is something Grojean is great at. We should not forget that Kevin had to give his car to Giovinazzi 6 times this year. And missing out those FP1’s does means a lot if have to be able perform.
Jakob Paulsen
1st December 2017, 11:53
Being a Dane I hope I am excused if I sound biased :)
Overall I was impressed with Kevin’s top performances. His drives in Azerbaijan and Mexico were top class. I was however very dissapointed with his qualifying speed. Grosjean is seriously quick over a single lap when it really matters, while Kevin seems never to hit a perfect lap when it really mattered. That has to be a main focus for him in 2018.
In terms of his aggressive driving I think, it’s been blown out of proportion. He seems less aggressive than in 2017 and if Alonso or Vettel did the same, few would (in my biased view) raise an eyebrow. His clash with Hulkenburg was a two-side affair – either driver could have chosen to back down. You can’t just take the long route around and expect the driver ahead of you to back down and let you by. But again – that’s just me routing for “my” Danish driver :)
KnGS (@)
1st December 2017, 12:57
Kevin Magnussen impressed in 2017. He was ahead of Grosjean when they both finished. I’d bet that, without the spin in Abu Dhabi, Magnussen would have overtaken Grosjean. Grosjean needs to up the game and he is messing up when he should be dominating. Magnussen is going to be even better next season and could beat Grosjean. His moves were good as well, if a bit too aggressive.
BrunoB
1st December 2017, 12:58
Really good point. Because think of the praise Magnussen would have got if he was driving for the podium – hehe and think of the mudslinging Verstappen would have got if he was only driving for 12th place.
Todfod (@todfod)
1st December 2017, 13:04
Neither driver was really impressive this year, but Magnussen did perform better than expected.
Romain’s still a great qualifier, but his occasionally poor race craft and error prone performances made him go down a notch in my book. If I had to rate the better driver for the year, it would still be Grosjean, but just marginally.
jenc (@jens)
1st December 2017, 14:05
Just bear one thing in mind…
Throughout 2017, the one track that suited the VF-17 the best was Austria.
In that weekend, Magnussen was ahead of Grosjean in all passes up till qualifying, where a suspension failure took Magnussen out in Q1. Grosjean, in this good weekend for, Haas continued to Q1.
In the race Magnussens car failed with a hydraulic pressure, and Grosjean went on to score a fine 8 points.
Had the luck been the other way around, in just this one race, the season score would have been 27 points for Magnussen and 20 points for Grosjean. And the views on the season equally different for people and commentators.
Jere (@jerejj)
1st December 2017, 16:55
@jens +1.
Kenn
1st December 2017, 20:33
So true!
Redich
2nd December 2017, 7:23
+1
Nunu
2nd December 2017, 14:54
Agree..really good point
peter rene (@praero)
1st December 2017, 16:54
MAG is the only driver to score 2/2 against teammate, most teams ends up 4/0
SEB/RAI 4,0
HAM/BOT 4,0
PER/OCO 4,0
VER/RIC 3,1
MAG/GRO 2,2
MAS/STR 4,0
HUL/PAL 4,0
HUL/SAI 4,0
ALO/VAN 4,0
ERI/WER 1,3
Kenn (@humbleridderen)
1st December 2017, 21:40
Maybe Grosjean got the upper hand with qualifying this year, but Magnussen has shown he is a very good starter, he is aggressive and can overtake, and actually good in defending too. I dont know how it will be going with the qualifying next year, but i’m very sure he will get more points than Grosjean next year. It seems so.
Zerklux
1st December 2017, 22:55
I’m not gonna jump to conclusions yet but to me it seems that magnessun is like a sniper with i way to access the best from the car easier however for me it seems for grosjean with a better car he trounce just about anyone kind of like a sawn off shotgun in credible potential to do well but nearly everything has to be right we’ve seen glimpses of his massive talent before and we’ll likely see it again. Ie end of 2013 putting the 4th best car in places it shouldn’t have been ending the final 7 races with 4 podiums 2 top 5 and dnf from a potential race result. Again in 2014 by placing the dire lotus in 5th in Spain and potentially finishing there had it not been for a engine issue on the Renault. And also Spa 2015 qualifying 4th after lotus looked like the worst of the Mercedes powered cars and ending the race with pace that was 3rd in the race, David Croft “ lapping considerably faster than anyone else other than the Mercedes.” Meanwhile magnessun also impressed with the podium in his first ever race but I still like grosjean could have done great things if he had stayed with Renault.
Nunu
2nd December 2017, 15:00
Think MAG gonna find GRO in the mirrors next season… missing 6 FP’s to GIO leaves marks on a qualify… and MAG suffered both from puncture and broken parts when having the speed for Nice points.. next year MAGs going for the big breakthrough and then maybe a Ferrari seat in 2019..in my danish Dreams….
DonSmee (@david-beau)
3rd December 2017, 16:08
If I had a choice I would take Grosjean over K-Mag. Grosjean had many days when he took the car by the scruff of the neck and worked wonders with it. On the other side, other than a few ballsy moves, Kevin has not shown any blinding speed, and doesn’t quite effuse the passion of Grosjean.