No Haas driver has ever, technically speaking, led a Formula 1 Grand Prix up to this point. So that honour can now go to Kevin Magnussen of Denmark, albeit having done so for a solitary lap at the F1 Brazilian GP Sprint race.
Some pleasures, as they say, are rather short lived- aren’t they?
A contest that was supposedly Kevin Magnussen’s to lose did turn out that way.
While he may have had a clean getaway marked by great bursts of speed, Kevin Magnussen wasn’t able to hold on the track position that first went to a chasy Max Verstappen and eventually to none other than George Russell.
The Mercedes newcomer winning his first Formula 1 Grand Prix sprint race meant that Kevin Magnussen, pole sitter, a few hours ago was ‘Dane’ and dusted.
The former McLaren driver could only bag a P8, which meant that the 30-year-old finished ahead of Vettel and Gasly, ninth and tenth, respectively.
But all said and done, the Brazilian GP sprint race did underline the triumph of courage for isn’t that the highest-possible virtue of life as also in sport?
When George Russell passed none other than Max Verstappen for the lead of the sprint race, which wasn’t before a third attempt at usurping the Dutchman, São Paulo witnessed its most heart stopping moment of Saturday.
Though previously, K-Mag had faced a similar fate. Lap after lap, he’d see those in hot pursuit of his P1 succeeding in edging out his Haas VF-22; the white liveried car hardly had enough on it to defy those desirous of waltzing ahead.
It began with the current world champion Max Verstappen, also described at not Ted Kravitz’s best friend.
But soon after the Red Bull driver got the better of Magnussen, one would see the likes of Russell, Sainz and Hamilton darting ahead; the Haas posing less of a challenge to the incredibly fast chargers especially on the straights.
Whilst surely overtaking is no child’s play here at São Paulo, the Sprint contest did have ample trigger happy moments where it seemed that pure racing was the real mantra of the day, defending maybe not so much.
Stroll cutting across Vettel rather notoriously at the midway stage only to earn a ten second penalty for dangerous driving wasn’t the only mishap in Brazil.
Alpine driver Esteban Ocon coming to blows with Fernando Alonso pretty early on in the race made the afternoon in Brazil feisty and ridden with enough action that you otherwise expect from some old contest’s highlights package on YouTube.
That told, 24 laps of backbreaking racing done, we know have a main race on our hands.
It’s one where the finest driver might not be the one driving the fastest car; though could even turn out to be the most fun character on the grid whose name emits a hearty, wholesome emotion. Sir Lewis Hamilton, anyone?
It’s all to play for on Sunday’s main race, which now is only next few hours away.