09/04/2022
NEWS STORY
Haas F1 Team drivers Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen qualified 15th and 17th respectively for the Australian Grand Prix, Round 3 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
Q1 saw both Haas F1 drivers utilize three sets of Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires. Magnussen worked his way from a 1:21.243 to a 1:20.548 on his first set. The Dane's fastest lap was a 1:20.254 (P17) on his second set of softs. The third and final run of the session was a sprint to the line following a red flag stop but Magnussen was unable to improve upon his earlier time - his qualifying efforts ending in Q1. Schumacher fared better advancing through to Q2 for the second time this season with a quick lap of 1:20.104 (P15) - coming on his second allotment of softs.
Joining the top 15 in Q2, Schumacher ran a scrubbed set of soft rubber to start. A switch to fresh tires delivered first a 1:20.585 followed by a 1:20.465 - the latter time placing the German 15th on the grid for the 58-lap race on Sunday.
Kevin Magnussen: "It hasn't really been our weekend so far - we haven't found the sweet spot on this track. We've made some improvements but in qualifying it was a little bit messy with the red flag. I don't think the result is representative of what the car can do in the race - there is more to come. We're not starting in a great position so we'll see what we can do but I'm optimistic that we've got a good car for the race."
Mick Schumacher: "Unfortunately, I ran into some traffic in the last sector with four or five cars in front of me which wasn't too nice, but these things happen. We did the best we could and we had the right approach to this session. After a poor Friday we definitely managed to bring some pace back into the car. Hopefully we'll be in a position to fight tomorrow as the car in the long run felt good and we were able to follow, so hopefully we can follow and pass."
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: "We've struggled the whole weekend a little bit and it went into qualifying. We couldn't get the tires to work properly and had little problems left, right and center but we tried to get the best out of it. Now, we need to get ready for tomorrow - our long run times were not bad yesterday - and that is what we're trying to do at this point, to get points."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Melbourne, here.