While everyone is focused on the benefits Haas is deriving from its technical partnership with Ferrari, Kevin Magnussen has underlined the 'crucial' role played by manufacturer Dallara in the team's improvement this year.

The US outfit confirmed its pre-season dark horse label in Melbourne, where it clearly demonstrated the speed and efficiency of its VF-18 charger.

Both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean qualified in the top ten and were comfortably holding their in the race when a double pitstop blunder put a premature end to their impressive showing.

Haas' step forward in 2018 has been significant, perhaps the greatest of all the mid-field runners, and Magnussen sees Dallara a big contributor to its move up the grid.

"Dallara is a crucial part of the team and they’ve stepped up this year too," Magnussen to Motorsport.com.

"If you look at the car, the parts look much better this year – cleaner and better quality. That’s very, very important, it means a lot."

Haas relies on Ferrari for its engine, transmission and rear suspension package, much to the chagrin of several of its rivals, but designs in-house the rest of its car which is then manufactured by Dallara at Varano de' Melegari in northern Italy.

"We can design the car in CFD and in a computer, and that’s working in CFD and that’s working in the wind tunnel, but if we don’t get an actual car that it was what we meant it to be, then it’s not good," adds Magnussen.

"They’ve done a really good job on their side. Hopefully they will continue, because they’re learning as well.

"It’s very good for their business being involved in this project, I’m sure they are improving not only our Formula 1 cars, but their cars as well."

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