Magnussen finally proving what he can do in F1 - Steiner

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Haas F1 Team boss Guenther Steiner has hailed the improvement in Kevin Magnussen's race form in 2018.

The 25-year-old Dane is in his second season with the American team. So far this season he's picked up points in three of the first seven races, including a memorable fifth place in Bahrain.

By contrast, his more experiences team mate Romain Grosjean is yet to finish in the top ten and is only one of two drivers on the grid yet to score any points.

Steiner was pleased to have the opportunity to talk up Magnussen's performance so far this season.

“I think that it's the first time in F1 that he can show how good a driver he is," the team principal said this week.

"I think he showed it when he drove in F3 and all the minor series how good he is. And I think that it's the first time that he had a real chance with a decent car to show what he can do.

“I personally think it's just his confidence,” he said when asked what the secret of Magnussen's recent success might be. “He's in a good spot with his thinking, with his driving.

“I find it quite simple why it is happening. He's just showed what he can do everything around him works like this, he's comfortable and that is what the outcome is. It's simpler than we all think it is.

Magnussen expecting Haas to be back on form in Canada

“He knows the team, he has nothing to worry there, he doesn't think about it, he trusts everybody, he has got a good car available, and he's just doing what I think we all knew years ago that he can do."

All of which suggests that Magnussen might be staying with the team for a third season in 2019.

However neither Magnussen nor Grosjean had a good outing in Canada, which is close to being a home race for the Haas team based in North Carolina, USA.

“It was a disappointing end to a disappointing weekend," Steiner admitted after neither driver finished in the top ten in Montreal.

"Lady Luck didn’t quite go our way during the race," he sighed. "The only thing we can do is look forward to the next race.

"I’m hoping we’ll get a break at some stage and show what we can do."

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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.