Haas has named an unchanged driver line-up for 2024 with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg both retained by the American team.

Hulkenberg, 36, had been without a full-time seat on the grid since 2019, but has impressed since replacing Mick Schumacher. Magnussen, 30, was handed a second stint with Haas on the eve of last season after Russian driver Nikita Mazepin was sacked.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said: “It’s safe to say that we’ve had an extremely solid driver pairing this season in Formula One and ultimately there was no reason to look to change that moving forward.

“Kevin is obviously a very well-known quantity to us, and I’m delighted he’ll return for what will be his seventh season in Haas colours. With 113 starts for our team alone, we know where his strengths lie and his knowledge and experience of our organisation pairs very well with that too.

“On the other side of the garage, Nico’s simply slotted in without fuss or fanfare and proved himself to be a valuable member of the team. He’s approaching 200 starts in Formula One and we’re very happy to be the beneficiary of that experience behind the wheel.”

Heading into the second half of this year’s 22-round campaign, Haas are eighth of 10 in the constructors’ standings.

Hulkenberg scored the team’s best result of the season so far with a seventh place in Australia in April. He also qualified second at the Canadian Grand Prix in June, and has scored nine points to Magnussen’s two.

“It’s nice to get things sorted early for next season to just keep the focus on racing and improving performance,” said the German.

Magnussen added: “I’m obviously very happy to see my relationship with Haas extended once again.

“My return in 2022 had been unexpected but was filled with numerous highlights, and although this season hasn’t gone quite as we’d hoped, we’ve still managed to get into the points and shown potential in the package we have.”

Guenther Steiner knows Haas benefitted from circumstance as Kevin Magnussen claimed a shock pole position, but insisted it was not down to luck.

Magnussen will start at the front of the grid in Saturday's sprint race ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after clinching his first Formula One pole.

The 30-year-old, who joined Haas this year in the wake of Nikita Mazepin's dismissal from the team, recorded the quickest lap of Q3 at the Interlagos Circuit, with the final session ended by a combination of a red flag and rain showers.

Yet Steiner was adamant Haas and Magnussen must take the credit.

"This is the sort of thing that you're scared to dream about. The whole team have been trying hard for seven years. Circumstances let us pull this one off," he told Sky Sports.

"It was not luck, it was well-deserved from the driver and from the team, being on the right tyres at the right time and Kevin putting a lap down when it was needed. 

"He was first out. You could say he had an advantage, but also he had a disadvantage as he had nobody to gauge things from because he was on his own.

"Kevin deserves a lot. The whole team deserves this and he's part of the team. We always work hard, we never give up and we keep on fighting."

It has been another tough season for Haas, who sit eighth in the constructors' standings, with Magnussen and team-mate Mick Schumacher having accumulated just 36 points between them.

They now have a chance to leave their mark with just two races remaining in 2022, while for Magnussen, he fulfilled a dream he might have thought had gone.

"I still can't really believe it," Magnussen told Sky Sports.

"What a phenomenal job the team did to put me out on the pit lane as the first car to give me the best piece of track. It was starting to rain so that was the crucial part.

"In this sport, at least I do go up and down. It's a lot of fun on days like this, that's for sure."

Magnussen burst onto the scene with McLaren in 2014, finishing on the podium in his very first race.

"I didn't know what to expect back then. I came in as this arrogant little kid thinking I was the king of the world," he added with a smile.

"I had a lot of lessons after that, showing how difficult it actually is in this sport. Now I'm on pole position so I'm just going to enjoy."

Surprise pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen pledged "maximum attack" as he aimed to "have some fun" in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint race.

Haas driver Magnussen, who claimed a podium finish in his first Formula One race back in 2014, had never previously topped qualifying.

Yet he claimed a shock pole position on Friday, ahead of world champion Max Verstappen and Mercedes' George Russell, to ensure he will start Saturday's sprint race at the front of the grid.

Magnussen recorded a fastest lap of 1:11.674 before a combination of a rain shower and a red flag due to Russell spinning off ended the session.

"You're kidding, you're kidding, you're f****** kidding me! I've never, ever felt like this in my life," the Dane said on the team radio after being informed he was P1.

Magnussen, the first driver from Denmark to claim a pole in F1, had hardly composed himself by the time he was interviewed following the race.

"I don't know what to say," said the 30-year-old, who signed for Haas earlier this year after Nikita Mazepin had his contract terminated.

"The team put me out on the track at the exact right moment. We were the first out in the pit lane and did a pretty decent lap and we are on pole. It is incredible. 

"Thank you to Gene Haas and [team manager] Guenther Steiner and the whole team for this opportunity. 

"It has just been an amazing journey. It is incredible, thank you."

Asked about his plan for Saturday, Magnussen quipped: "Maximum attack, let's go for something funny."

Magnussen might still have his work cut out to hold off the Red Bull of Verstappen, who said: "We are still at the front. We just stayed calm from Q1 to Q2, then Q3 was where it was a bit more of a lottery but we are still on the front row."

Russell had to settle for P3 following his spin, though the Briton believes the sprint race provides Mercedes with a prime chance to beat Verstappen.

"Firstly, I'm happy to be P3 and congrats to Kevin," he said. "What an awesome job he did and Haas – they truly deserve it for all the efforts they have been putting in.

"P3 is not necessarily where we wanted to be but it's a very good place to be starting for tomorrow's sprint race. 

"I think it is our best shot at finishing ahead of Max and Red Bull if there are some mixed conditions. I think we are ready for a good couple of races."

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1:11.674
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.203
3. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.385
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.589
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.683
6. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +0.751
7. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +0.830
8. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.937
9. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +3.927
10. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

Ferrari's recent issues with reliability have put a major dent in their driver's and constructor's title hopes, but they will need to quickly bounce back at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.

It was a painful day for the Scuderia at the Azerbaijan GP on Sunday, with both cars retiring due to technical issues.

For Charles Leclerc, it was the second time in three races he was forced out because of a power unit problem while leading, and the fourth consecutive race where he failed to convert pole position into a race win.

Sergio Perez took full advantage in Baku, moving ahead of Leclerc in the driver's standings with his win, with Max Verstappen opening up a 34-point gap to the Ferrari driver.

With two retirements sandwiching Ferrari's strategic blunder at his home race in Monaco, the Monegasque moves to four wins from 15 pole positions, with only Jarno Trulli holding a lower conversion rate (25 per cent) among winning drivers in the history F1.

Meanwhile, only Michael Schumacher (+23) and Alain Prost (+18) have a higher differential between race wins and pole positions than Max Verstappen, who has claimed 25 and 14 respectively.

Verstappen will already be making his 150th GP appearance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, looking for his sixth win of the season out of nine starts.

It would provide little solace to the 24-year-old but he has been in supreme form on the Saturday, claiming six poles out of eight this season, and could match his highest tally in a single season from 2019.

Pole position is not essential but it has proved to be convenient in recent years, with each of the past five winners in Montreal coming from the front of grid on the Saturday, the longest such streak in F1.

Since the opening race of the season in Bahrain, Ferrari remain one more one-two finish away from surpassing Mercedes for the most all-time in F1, with both on 82.

Ferrari customers facing similar strife

Problems have persisted for the factory team and Ferrari power unit customers since the first upgrade at the Miami Grand Prix, where Zhou Guanyu retired.

Both he and Leclerc then retired from the Spanish GP, after Valtteri Bottas was forced out of FP2 in the other Alfa Romeo due to an engine failure.

Both Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen experienced MGU-K failures in Monaco, before Leclerc, Magnussen and Zhou had power unit-related DNFs in Baku.

Red Bull in control

After rectifying their own reliability issues at the start of the season, Red Bull have picked up the pieces and are now in control of both championships.

Red Bull drivers have finished on the podium in 11 of their 13 finished races, securing the one-two in three of the last five Grands Prix and are one more from securing the highest tally in a single season.

The last time the team had six wins in the opening eight races of the season was when Sebastian Vettel coasted his way to the driver's title in 2011.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 150
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 129
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 116
4. George Russell (Mercedes) 99
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 83

Constructors

1. Red Bull 279
2. Ferrari 199
3. Mercedes 161
4. McLaren 65
5. Alpine 47

Kevin Magnussen has returned to Formula One after signing a multi-year deal with Haas for 2022, replacing outgoing Russian driver Nikita Mazepin.

The American-owned team parted ways with Mazepin ahead of the season following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Magnussen is back in F1 having left Haas at the end of the 2020 season after four years with the team. He has also previously driven for McLaren and Renault.

The Dane has since participated in sportscars and IndyCar in the United States, and had been about to join Peugeot's World Endurance Championship squad before the call came to return to Haas.

Magnussen joins up with the team's other driver, Mick Schumacher, son of German great Michael Schumacher.

Mazepin spoke to the media on Wednesday, four days after his sacking was announced by Haas, and he described that ousting as "an injustice".

His father, Dmitry, has close ties to Vladimir Putin, holding face-to-face business talks with the Russian president as recently as January. Dmitry Mazepin is deputy chairman of Uralkali, the potash fertiliser producer that has been a major financial backer of Haas.

Haas also cut the sponsorship link with Uralkali with immediate effect, leading to a demand on Wednesday from the Russian firm for reimbursement of funds it had invested ahead of the new season.

The Russian Grand Prix for 2022 has been cancelled, with F1 announcing this week it has terminated its deal for future races in the country.

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