Magnussen wishes F1 test-topping time meant more

The Dane caused a stir on the penultimate day of pre-season testing when, during an extra hour of private running he set the fastest overall time of the day.

While the achievement on his return to the F1 cockpit after a year away in sportscars caused a stir on social media, Magnussen insisted he was reading nothing in to it.

Running in more ideal cooler evening track conditions and alone on track, a measure agreed by other teams to make up for Haas losing the morning session on Thursday to a freight delay, Magnussen said there was almost nothing to read in to the lap he delivered.

“I wish I could say that this means a whole lot,” explained Magnussen afterwards.

“It's always nice to see your team on top, and suddenly we want that rather than being at the bottom. But it's not like we think... it's not like we believe now that we're going to be champions this year or anything.

“Being fastest on the test day in pre-season testing in F1, I think anyone that knows even a little bit about Formula 1 knows that it doesn't really mean much.”

While refusing to read too much in to topping the standings, Magnussen did acknowledge that his first day back in the cockpit had been an overall encouraging one.

“We did do a good lap time there at the end, but you know, I’m not really getting carried away by that,” he said.

“But it's been a good day nonetheless. The afternoon was super good.