Magnussen: Biggest worry is not finishing in Bahrain

The Dane in back in Formula 1 after spending one year, but with "one man's loss being another man's gain", Magnussen found himself back at his old team, after Nikita Mazepin lost his seat at the American outfit.

The returning Haas driver had a decent re-integration within the team, even going fastest of all on his first day testing the team's VF22 in Bahrain, but is wary of the reliability problems his team faced both in Bahrain and earlier in Barcelona.

"Coming back to the team felt very natural," Magnussen said in a team press release. "There are new faces in the team which is exciting and good to see as it shows that the team has been growing since I left.

"You can really feel that there is an upwards trend of growth in the team which is positive and just the atmosphere was super good. Everyone is excited for this new season."

Magnussen spoke of his objectives for the 2022 season opener in a team preview and said: "Our objectives for this weekend are – first of all with these new cars - my biggest worry is not finishing the race.

"I think it's important to get off to a solid start rather than an explosive one. Of course, it would be nice to get a super good result and that's 100 percent what we're gunning for but most importantly it's to get a good start, some foundation to work from for the rest of the season.

"In terms of pecking order, I think it's always hard to say even after the first race. You get a much clearer idea after the first race over winter testing, but it does tend to change quite a lot after the first race.

"We'll see, I'm excited!" the 29-year-old concluded.

"What we need to start working on is the reliability," the Haas boss said in the team preview. "We didn't have it as we wanted it and we've got a big mountain to climb ahead of us. Performance-wise, it's difficult to say because we haven't done enough running, but I would say it doesn't look bad."

Of his objectives for the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, Steiner said: "First of all, to finish the race.

"We had a lot of issues reliability-wise that I'm a bit scared of, but I think if we can finish the race, we have a big chance. I'm optimistic, cautiously optimistic, about getting into the points and that would be success," he added.

When asked if Magnussen's quick settling in the team surprised him, Steiner said: "A little bit but then again, that was one of the reasons why we got him back because he knows the team well after being with us for four years, and he's a good driver.

"Obviously, I was happy with what he showed but it didn't surprise me massively because that's what we expected and is why we brought him back," Steiner revealed.

Magnussen's teammate Schumacher admits he would have loved to do more work with the VF22, but is satisfied with what he has got.

"The season has definitely begun," he said in the team's press release. "I've been fortunate to get some laps in during testing, although we didn't really get the full opportunity to try everything nonetheless, the car feels good.

"There are a huge number of differences to how this car feels compared to last year, especially coming back to this track and having driven here, you really feel them. It's very positive, I'm happy and ready to bring on the season," Schumacher added.

The German was reluctant to set any targets for Bahrain's season opener, and said: "Targets are difficult to set right now. Obviously, we want to be able to put everything together that we've learned over the last few days and put it into a good package for the start of the season.

"In terms of where we stack against the rest of the grid, it's very hard to say," the 22-year-old added. "I think we're in a good space where we're feeling positive about many things and hopefully, we'll be able to show everyone we've made the right steps and the car is in a better place than we were last year, and I don't think that's awfully difficult to achieve."

"A lot has changed since my first race with the team," Schumacher revealed. "First and foremost, the way I feel in the team is great, I feel super comfortable and really happy and ready to take on this new challenge of the VF-22.

"It's been great to be a part of the development of it and to see it now in one piece and be able to drive it and feel all the hard work that has been put in by the whole team.

"Seeing it come to life is quite special. To see it's felt quite positive has been great," the Schumacher revealed.