F1: Top five moments of Kevin Magnussen's 2018 season

For a sport so eternally seeped in speed and those who lie at the front of the grid, there's not an awful lot reserved for the midfielders- isn't it?

For a driver who's just conceded two DNFs this season in a car that's perhaps not even close to a Red Bull in aero packaging and functionality, how uncanny or impressive is it that Kevin Magnussen has finished more races than Daniel Ricciardo and has had fewer retirements than Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari?

The Haas is, at present, one of the most improved teams on the grid. Much of it is thanks to the Danish talent Kevin Magnussen, if not so much due to Romain Grosjean, five retirements, including three collisions this year.

Fast, in great control of his race, and perhaps among the fastest men on the grid, a race win might not have been in the reckoning for Kevin Magnussen. But it does seem that in 2018, given all that Magnussen has achieved, he's upped his game by a few notches.

So let's examine things that have worked in favour of Magnussen, among the most promising improvements of the 2018 season.

A fighting P5 at Bahrain

F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain, Magnussen gets his best-place in 2018

The Bahrain Grand Prix was, yet again, a race where it seemed that Ferrari were the true frontrunners as far as straight line speed and corner pace was concerned.

Demonstrating just that, Sebastian Vettel emerged the frontrunner at the end of the spectacular night race.

Lewis Hamilton, who had no answers to stop his rival had the ignominy of seeing Vettel emerge with two back-to-back wins, starting with Melbourne.

But not everyone's race was marked with a certain grimness.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen unfurled one of his best ever drives right after the heartbreak at Melbourne, the season starting Australian Grand Prix, where he failed to finish the race.

At the fantastic Sakhir, Magnussen put his Haas on fifth at the end of the duel and collected the first points for Haas while his teammate, Romain Grosjean would take a few more races to open his account for 2018.

An impressive drive at Spain

Spanish F1 Grand Prix, no dearth of support for K-Mag!

One of Kevin Magnussen's best racing moments in the current season that now stands at the brink of conclusion came in Spain, the home race for Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr.

It was here at the Spanish Grand Prix that Magnussen managed a fighting P6, one of the four finishes inside Top 6 for the Dane this year.

While the race utterly belonged to the eventual 2018 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, there were some who had to contend with tough luck, for instance, Kimi Raikkonen, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly, Romain Grosjean, and Stoffel Vandoorne- all of whom race retired.

But on the other hand, scoring the only points for Haas, Kevin Magnussen drove home 8 valuable points. In so doing, he collected a handy P6 - an effort critically lauded for his interesting battles with the two Spanish drivers, Carlos Sainz Jr., and Fernando Alonso - both of whom he defied in the end by holding onto sixth.

A hat-trick of finishes at the European circuits

F1 Grand Prix of France - where K-Mag was impressive

Of late, it's been seen that the start of the European season marks the championship with some rather interesting battles and surprises.

For some reason, where the last two seasons stand, it may not be entirely incorrect to state that while Mercedes, (read Lewis Hamilton) seem utterly in control of the Asian leg of the championship by exploding to great form right at the beginning of the conclusive part of the season, it's the likes of Ferrari (read Vettel) who seem authoritative during the European leg of the year.

But scripting another interesting parallel during this time in the world championship, one saw Haas driver Kevin Magnussen contest some nicely-fought races and emerge with a hat-trick of points finishes where his efforts at France, Austria, and Britain stood.

While at Les Castellet, he would bag a P6, he'd go one better at Spielberg in going P5 before collecting another finish inside points by virtue of a P9 at Silverstone.

A fantastic qualifying at the Russian Grand Prix

F1 Grand Prix of Russia, where Magnussen set some pace

There's some sense, after all, as to why Kevin Magnussen is referred to as "the king of Russia" at the contest held at Sochi. This year, he collected a P8, his best position in the last 4 races.

But he did far better in the qualifying effort, by notching up a career-best effort at Russia in the form of grabbing a fifth-place.

Unfortunately, some issues with straight-line speed and an apparent struggle in tyre-wear would spoil the thrill of his fifth-place start, a position that the Dane would love to have improved on during the race.

But there's sense to the sobriquet he was anointed with. Last year, Magnussen improved his race finish, collecting a P13, having gathered only a lowly P14 at qualifying.

In 2016, however, Magnussen, then in a Renault, managed P7, his hitherto best-finish at Russia, even as in qualifying, he would only manage P17.

Therefore, in the past three events at Russia, the Haas driver has considerably improved his run.

Lap record at Singapore at the 2018 Grand Prix

F1 Singapore: the fastest lap of the race

Usually, when it comes to the fastest lap of the race, then the feats only belong to either a Mercedes or a Ferrari, with Red Bull habitually putting forth some stunning performances.

But if you were a Magnussen fan, someone who witnessed the events at the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix, then Lap 50 of the Singapore race would've been the best-possible sight.

It wasn't a Kimi, Bottas or Lewis, but Kevin Magnussen of Haas who delivered the fastest lap of the Grand Prix, going at a blasting 1:41:905.

In so doing, Magnussen would deliver a new lap record and stun the critics who've been berating the aero-package of a car that seems to have eventually punched above his weight.

For the coming season, it will be rather interesting to see the duels that Magnussen would relish holding, whether it's with Sauber's Kimi Raikkonen or Renault's Daniel Ricciardo.