Eighth ‘like a victory’ for Haas – Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen says eighth position at the Mexican Grand Prix was “like a victory” for Haas as it scored points, despite qualifying as the slowest team.

Magnussen was eliminated in Q1 but moved up to 14^th on the grid due to penalties elsewhere, and emerged inside the top 10 amid drama further up the field on the opening lap.

Magnussen ultimately gained two more positions to register eighth place, having pulled away from the battle involving Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton during the closing stages.

“That was like a victory, it was incredible, and a great way to reward everyone for their hard work,” said Magnussen.

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“It was a perfect race. It couldn’t have gone better. We could easily have given up and just thrown the towel into the ring [on Saturday] – it was a very tough day for us all.

“Nobody gave up, and everyone knows we’re not the worst team, or meant to be on the last row. We’re meant to be in the points, fighting in the midfield and getting into the top 10.

“We pushed on and I’m very proud of the team for that.

“We’re going to continue to fight. It’s not going to be easy, we can see that, but we’ll continue to push in the Constructors Championship and have fun all the way to the end.”

Team-mate Romain Grosjean was a low-key 15th, having been compromised when he picked up a five-second time penalty during his scrap with Alonso.

“The contact with Fernando damaged my car,” he said.

“I haven’t seen the footage so I don’t know [what happened], but it was at Turn 1 and I lost half of the floor.

“From that point it was almost over. I just tried to hang in there.”