Magnussen looks to the past for confidence in Haas' future

Kevin Magnussen believes Haas should look to its recent past in F1 and rely on its experience to turn around its fortunes in 2020.

Before the 2019 season got underway in Melbourne, Haas was seen as a top candidate to lead F1's competitive mid-field.

But early on the US outfit's drivers and engineers were confounded by the VF-19's inability to deal efficiently with its tyres, a familiar theme for Haas in the past couple of seasons.

Multiple upgrades failed to alleviate the issue and neither did a desperate specification downgrade implemented on Romain Grosjean's car at the start of the summer.

• F1i Team Reviews for 2019: Haas F1 Team

Good qualifying performances were followed by dismal races on Sunday, as the team remained mystified by the VF19's lack of consistency.

But Magnussen points to Haas' past achievements and to the hard lessons learned from this year to generate his confidence in the future.

"Last year we got P5 in the Constructors’ Championship. I think that’s pretty impressive. I don’t think many teams have done that in their third year," said the Dane.

"So we’ve got to take some confidence from that as well and just build on the experience that we have had this year and the learning that we have done and then just come back stronger next year.

"You always learn in any situation, but especially when it’s difficult you learn different things and you just have to approach your problems in a different way.

"I think that gives you strength and some experience that you wouldn’t necessarily have gotten if you were just cruising and driving in a perfect car.

"So in many ways it’s also been positive, both for me as a driver and for the team as well."

Linear progress over the years is theoretically what a young F1 team strives for as it matures, but in practice unforeseen circumstances and unknown factors can undermine that ambition. But Magnussen is keeping his full faith in his team

"We couldn’t expect every year to get better from the previous years," insisted the 27-year-old.

"Somehow, this year’s been positive in terms of what we’ve learned, what we’ve managed to understand and what we need to do better for the future.

"So yes it’s been tough on track, it’s been tough for everyone… to know that you can’t fight for a good position is hard.

"On the other hand, I think it’s been very positive in the way of what we’ve learned and what we’ve put in place for the future.

"I’ve got faith in the team and I think they’re going to do a great job [in 2020]. We need to keep pushing, keep being honest with ourselves, and don’t lose track of what we’ve learned."

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