Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Istanbul Park, 2020

Haas drivers say rookie replacements will find car accessible but “slow”

2020 Bahrain Grand Prix

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Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean say their replacements will find their car easy to drive but not competitive.

Formula 2 championship leader Mick Schumacher is expected to be announced as one of the team’s two drivers in the near future. His F2 rival Nikita Mazepin is rumoured to be a contender for the second seat.

“I don’t know if that is the case that those guys are stepping in,” said Magnussen when asked how he thought an all-rookie line-up would fare in the VF-20. “But whoever is going to step in I don’t think they’re going to find a very difficult car to drive, at least.”

Magnussen said the car has often turned out not to be competitive this year despite feeling well-balanced. “These cars are very good,” he said. “Many times I’ve driven the car and thought ‘this is going to be competitive because the feeling is good’.

“But it isn’t and we’re slow because we lack quite a bit of everything. That’s really what makes us under-competitive – not because the car is particularly difficult to drive. I think they’re going to find it very fast and enjoyable to drive.”

Grosjean said Formula 1 is generally “difficult for a rookie” but described the VF-20 as an accessible car. “As Kev said the car is a bit understeery so in that aspect it’s not a too hard car to drive,” he said.

“It’s always going to be the key of getting the tyres to work and with the 2021 tyres I don’t know how it’s going to go. But it’ll be faster than what they’re used to.”

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2020 Bahrain Grand Prix

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3 comments on “Haas drivers say rookie replacements will find car accessible but “slow””

  1. Nice attempt to slap the hand that has fed you on your way out of town.

  2. Shame they’ll race what will be a 2 year old ferrari, big negative is the pu, as this haas is probably better than last years. Hopefully PU is much improved.

  3. If the car is ‘slow yet easy to drive’ then this is a fairly damning indictment of Grojean’s and Magnussen’s driving given the number of unforced errors they seem to make.

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