'P7 for us is like pole position!' says Magnussen

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Kevin Magnussen was delighted to claim seventh place on the grid for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Both Magnussen and his Haas F1 team mate Romain Grosjean made it through to the final top ten pole shoot-out round in Saturday's qualifying session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Dane succeeded in being the 'best of the rest' after the inevitable lock-out of the first three rows of the grid by the massed ranks of the big three teams in the sport.

“It was a really good qualifying," said Magnussen. "P7 for us is really pole position. It’s the best you can hope for if you’re not in a Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull.

"I’m really happy with that. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and, hopefully, we can bring home some good points."

Magnussen has few illusions that he'll realistically be able to improve on his starting position on Sunday - unless misfortune strikes one or more of the six drivers ahead of him.

"It’s a good position to start, and again, P7 is probably the best we can hope for if everyone finishes.

Hamilton and Bottas lock-out Barcelona front row for Mercedes

"It’s still a very tight battle, but I think our car is strong, and we can be happy with where we are at the moment.

"We need to keep up the levels, continue to develop, and keep putting stuff on the car," he added.

Grosjean had a more subdued time in Q3 than his team mate, and will start a row behind from tenth place on the grid.

“Pretty good qualifying for the team, both cars in the top ten," he summarised. "Obviously, Q3 could’ve been better [for me].

"I’m not super happy to start P10," he admitted. "But in general, I think we’re in a good position for the race and I’m happy for the team."

Haas boss Guenther Steiner confirmed the high spirits in the team garage on Saturday night, and set out the team's target for tomorrow.

“A very good day today" he said. "Finishing seventh and tenth in qualifying is a very good position for tomorrow.

"We just have to bring it home. That’s our aim: to get two cars in the top ten!"

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.