31/08/2024
NEWS STORY
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen qualified 10th and 13th respectively for the Italian Grand Prix, Round 16 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
Both drivers had the pace to advance beyond Q1 as qualifying commenced around 'The Temple of Speed'. Hulkenberg banked a 1:20.781 opening lap on his Pirelli P Zero Red softs to secure a Q2 slot in P13. Magnussen landed P14 - setting his fastest time, a 1:20.856, on his first set of the soft rubber. The Dane suffered a gearbox issue at the end of final practice earlier in the day but a trouble-free change of gearbox between sessions meant Magnussen's crew didn't skip a beat in Q1 - their reward, a spot in the top 15 knockout stage.
Hulkenberg and Magnussen each started Q2 on used softs - setting a 1:20.434 and a 1:20.698 respectively. Armed with new tires, Hulkenberg duly delivered a quick lap of 1:20.411 to progress into Q3 - the German ending Q2 P10 on the timesheets. Magnussen's opening lap proved to be his best of the session to place P13 and out of qualifying in Q2.
Hulkenberg went on to capture P10 on the grid for Sunday's 53-lap race with a Q3 hot lap of 1:20.339 on his final set of fresh softs. Lando Norris captured a second consecutive pole position courtesy of a 1:19.327 effort ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
Nico Hulkenberg: "I think it's a solid job to be inside the top 10. To be behind Alex (Albon) by such a small margin isn't ideal; I lost it already into Turn 1 and 2, and on the new tire somehow I didn't make them stick, every time on new tires it didn't go well, so that's something to understand. All in all, I'm happy, the car has felt pretty decent on the low downforce package, I have a good feeling and confidence and hopefully, we can take that into tomorrow. I think we're in the mix, but I expect us all to be very tight."
Kevin Magnussen: "In Q1, the Williams went off in front of me and there was so much dust I didn't know if he was off the track or on - I couldn't see anything - so that lap was ruined. It's very important to get a slipstream here, it can give you three tenths, and I went out behind the two Alpines, but they did a prep lap, so I ended up without a tow. That margin is what I'm missing for Q3 but P13 isn't too far away from the top 10 and we can do something from there."
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "It was a decent qualifying. We wanted to get both cars into Q3, but couldn't quite achieve that. To be honest, to get out of Q1 was a bit lucky when Kevin went off on his final run, but his first run was good enough to progress. In Q2, Nico's used tire lap was also good enough for Q3 and then in the final session we always knew, we were fighting for P9 with Alex Albon, and we lost it by four hundredths, but I think we maximized what we could. Overall it's been a pretty satisfying day, starting P10 and P13 at a circuit where you can overtake, I think we can really fight for points."