F1 News
Magnussen after catching up Verstappen in Mexico: 'Thought it was Perez!'
Kevin Magnussen could not believe that he was catching up to the back of Max Verstappen's Red Bull during the closing stages of the Mexican Grand Prix. It was a brilliant performance from the Dane at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, where he was also able to stick to the back of the Mercedes' for the majority of the race, leading to a great P7 finish.
Magnussen will be leaving the American team at the end of the season after a tricky 2024, highlighted by the one-race ban after accumulating too many penalty points. However, last weekend's result in Mexico was a huge success, only finishing around four seconds behind Verstappen when the chequered flag fell.
The reigning world champion did have 20 seconds worth of time penalties earlier in the race, but in the closing stages of the second stint, it was Magnussen who was faster than the Dutchman's RB20.
"For some reason, I thought it was Perez," Magnussen responded when asked if he was surprised he was overtaking Verstappen."It was certainly a very quick stint, especially towards the end of that stint on the hards."
P6 for Haas F1 in the constructors' championship
With those six points collected by Magnussen in Mexico, Haas now defined a 10-point lead over Visa Cash App RB with just four races remaining. Sixth place in the constructors' championship is at stake, along with the many millions that come with it.
"I think we are happy that we are ten points ahead, but I don't think you can ever be comfortable or too confident [in Formula 1]. It can swing around very quickly. They just need one good race and they're equal with us again. Just need to stay on the ball," the Dane concluded.
This article was created in collaboration with Corwin Kunst
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