KEVIN Magnussen was happy to help deliver the perfect way for Haas to go into Formula 1’s summer break.
Spirits were boosted as the Dane’s Banbury-prepared car finished seventh at the Hungarian Grand Prix, while teammate Romain Grosjean came tenth.
The double-points finish took the team clear into fifth place in the constructors’ championship before the month-long gap until the next round in Belgium.
Magnssen was pleased to have a quiet race.
He said: “That’s fine for us.
“We scored a double-points finish for the team and that’s a good way to go on holiday.”
The result also trimmed the gap between Haas and fourth-placed Renault, who are based at Enstone.
They had looked to be on for a strong result when Carlos Sainz qualified fifth in wet conditions at the Hungaroring, but in Sunday’s sunshine the Spaniard could only finish ninth.
He said: “It was a tough first lap with the soft (tyre), but I got off the line well until I was pushed out at turn one and lost some positions.”
Nico Hulkenberg was 12th in the other Renault, having started 13th on the grid.
“Ultimately, we weren’t fast enough,” he said.
“We look forward, though, testing this week before a bit of time off. The team, the engineers and the mechanics deserve the break.”
Williams remain bottom of the team standings and were the last two cars to finish in Hungary.
But Sergey Sirotkin, who finished 16th to pip teammate Lance Stroll, insists progress is being made.
He said: “There’s still some room for improvement, which we will analyse and correct throughout the summer break, but we can take quite a lot of positives from this race and all of us can take a deserved rest.”
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