Magnussen: Crazy! I'm super happy!

The only team that failed to score a point last year suddenly look like top 10 runners and Magnussen, drafted in as a late replacement for sacked Russian Nikita Mazepin, was pinching himself in delight.

"Crazy! I'm super-happy," said the 29-year-old Dane after Saturday's floodlit session at the Sakhir circuit.

"It's been a massive roller-coaster from getting the call from (team boss) Guenther (Steiner), getting really surprised by that, and then trying to make it happen," he told Sky Sports television.

"There were some obstacles I had to sort out (to get back into F1) and that was already a bit nervous, and then getting here, driving the car for the first time, having a sore neck.

"You hope the car is good but you never really know with Formula 1 testing, and now here and having an issue in qualifying and not thinking we could get out in Q3. What a roller-coaster."

Magnussen was late to join the final top 10 shootout, hitting the track with just three minutes left after his Ferrari-powered car had suffered an hydraulics issue in the second phase.

That gave him only one flying lap, but the end result was all he could have hoped for.

"I feel so unbelievably lucky to be in this situation that I'm in, with a good car in Formula 1 . It's a lot of fun," said Magnussen, who left Haas at the end of 2020 and had given up on returning.

"Starting P7, if you can do that you've got to go for points. The biggest concern is reliability I would say, but fingers crossed we can get there."

Team mate Mick Schumacher who qualified 12th, said: "Q3 was definitely possible today and I'm gutted that I didn't get there.

The good thing is that we know we have the potential and it's just a matter of putting it together over the next 23 races. Points are realistic, we have a car to do that, it's just a matter of putting everything together.

"We have a lot of races coming our way so I'm sure we'll be in a position to do that," the German concluded.

Haas had a torrid season in 2021, as the U.S. outfit put all their focus on 2022 hoping to capitalize on the new technical regulations. It seems their strategy has worked.(

Reporting by Alan Baldwin

, Additional reporting by Grandprix247