Magnussen impresses with a Q3 run, while Hulkenberg faces setbacks, leaving Haas focused on defending against Gasly in Qatar.
Kevin Magnussen brought his Haas F1 into Q3 tonight in Qatar, redeeming himself after finishing the Sprint race outside the points earlier in the day.
The Dane will take on Pierre Gasly tomorrow in a crucial battle for the Constructors’ Championship.
“I think the Sprint was almost the best we could do. We might have caught Gasly, but it was marginal. I had DRS, but I think our starting position ruined any chance of scoring points. Still, 10th place was close to that.”
“Getting into Q3 in qualifying was good. I’m a bit annoyed about my mistake in Turn 10, as we could’ve gained a position. Overall, I’m quite happy with the starting spot. I hope we can find the same pace we had in the Sprint and score points. The key is we qualified ahead of Alpine and RB F1—that’s the goal. Gasly is just behind me, starting on the clean side of the grid, so it will be a tight battle.”
Nico Hulkenberg scored two points in the Sprint but struggled in qualifying due to a technical issue.
“Scoring points on Saturday is nice, as it’s neither usual nor guaranteed for us, so we’ll definitely take them. It was a competitive race with strong and solid pace, and it felt good to keep the Red Bull behind us. In qualifying, we had a technical issue with energy management during the lap—we didn’t have full deployment.”
“We lacked full energy on the push lap, which is very costly here, and that’s why we were knocked out in Q1. We’ll try to recover and gain as much as possible, but overtaking here is very difficult. As you saw this morning, the race is quite static, but we’ll do our best tomorrow.”
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Haas F1: Magnussen Eyes Points as Gasly Threat Looms
Haas F1: Magnussen Eyes Points as Gasly Threat Looms