Haas F1 Team boss Guenther Steiner on Friday savored a rare moment of success, as his Formula One backmarkers pulled off an astonishing first pole position with Kevin Magnussen at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The Italian, whose direct approach and colorful language has made him a cult hero for millions through the popular Netflix Drive to Survive docuseries, reacted in typical fashion.
“When it rains soup, you need to have a spoon ready,” the Italian told Sky Sports television. “And we had the spoon ready today.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Magnussen was first out of the pit lane in the final qualifying shoot-out for yesterday’s sprint race, benefiting from the best conditions before George Russell spun off in his Mercedes and brought a halt to the session.
Rain then meant nobody else could go quicker than Magnussen’s time set on slick tires.
The pole was his first at the 140th attempt, but in his 100th race for Haas, and also the first by a Danish driver in Formula One.
“These are things that if you dream about it, you are scared to dream about it,” said Steiner, whose American team owner Gene Haas was yesterday to turn 70 and has more often than not been presented with a fork when the occasion demands a spoon.
“The whole team is trying hard since seven years and then circumstances let us pull this one off. I think it was not luck. It was well deserved from the driver and team being on the right tires at the right time,” he said.
Haas are eighth out of 10 teams in the constructors’ standings and the surreal afternoon was highlighted by their other driver Mick Schumacher qualifying last for a race that determines today’s grand prix grid.
Last year, with Schumacher and Magnussen’s now-departed Russian predecessor Nikita Mazepin, Haas failed to score a point all season and ended last.
The team had dropped Magnussen at the end of 2020, but Steiner brought the Dane back this season when oligarch’s son Mazepin was ruled out by sanctions triggered by Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.
Magnussen said the pole was more surprising and felt better than his second place on his debut with McLaren Racing in Australia in 2014.
“In this sport you go up and down, or at least I do. It’s a lot of fun when it’s days like this,” he said.
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