Komatsu said that the team made a mistake by calling Magnussen into the pits at the wrong time during the race. This decision cost Magnussen two places.
Just like in the last race, in Saudi Arabia, Haas used different strategies for their two drivers. Nico Hulkenberg stayed out longer on the hard tires before switching to mediums when the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was out.
With fresher tires, Hulkenberg caught up to Magnussen. Despite Magnussen’s frustration from the earlier pit stop, he moved aside and let his teammate pass, using his faster pace.
Both drivers ended up finishing ninth and tenth, gaining a position each after George Russell’s late crash.
This was the second race in a row where Magnussen helped Hulkenberg. He had slowed down a group of cars in Jeddah previously.
“On the first round of pit stops for Kevin, we lost two positions,” said Komatsu. “That shouldn’t have happened. But other than that, everything else was amazing.
“Pit stops were amazing, and then the drivers working together again during the second stint – Kev was on the hard tire, Nico was on the medium tire, because of the VSC.
“Again, Nico had a better pace. But Kevin’s strategy was already compromised, not because of his fault – the team’s fault.
“So Kevin had every reason to be pissed off, but then no: when we asked to swap, he’s done it straight away. So he knows how important these opportunities are. So, just right.”
Komatsu mentioned that the team reacted to Alex Albon pitting when they should have kept Magnussen out.
“Albon pitted,” he said. “He’s already undercut us. So we shouldn’t have then pitted on the following lap. But we did. So we let Albon undercut us – for no reason.
“Then, if you look at [Esteban] Ocon, he went longer on the first stint and overcut us. So we lost the two positions. That just is not right.
“We cannot keep making those mistakes when everything in the midfield is so tight.”
Komatsu found it frustrating that both drivers lost out to Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull. “I think Tsunoda had a better pace than us,” he said. “But again, if we did our first round of pit stops right, and then with the pace we had on the second stint, I think we could have fought with him much, much closer.”
“But just we need to put ourselves in that position first. But you know, full credit to Tsunoda, I think his pace was good today. But I feel if we’ve done the perfect job with Kevin, Kevin had the chance to fight with him until the end. That’s what we should be doing.”
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