John N
Haas F1 Team driver Kevin Magnussen put his quick thinking and ability to improvise to good use when he spun in the rain during Q3 of qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Magnussen was trying to negotiate the high-speed Turn 10 right-handers, Acque Minerali, in wet conditions when he spun off track but managed to get his car back onto the tarmac before it stalled.
The spin brought out a red flag, which gave the session a breather but also forced Magnussen back into pit lane for fresh tires before he could return to the fray. Despite his hasty escape from the gravel trap, Magnussen still put in a strong performance on new tires and posted the fourth-fastest time of qualifying—the second-best qualifying effort in Haas F1 Team history. “I ran out of talent!” Magnussen joked after climbing from his car. “I touched the white line and then it was gone, and
I thought I was going to hit the wall. I then went into the gravel and slowed down quite a lot so I realized – I saw the anti-stall, pulled the clutch while I was still backward, and then went onto the throttle just enough to get onto that escape road.
“We were more competitive in the wet, we made the tyres work better, but in the dry, we got through to Q3 still in P7. They weren’t fantastic laps from my side, and we were still dialing in the car, so it’s very positive. And it’s going to be dry tomorrow, and it looks like It’s not easy to overtake on this track, so I hope I can stay in the top eight and get some points.”
Haas has started fifth on seven occasions, but fourth is a new record for the team, and Magnussen is hopeful he can hold onto a strong starting position for the Grand Prix on Sunday as he predicts overtaking will be challenging in the Sprint. “I want to start an excellent good work for the Sunday race.
👏 @HaasF1Team go from strength to strength#ImolaGP #F1
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022
We’re in P4. In the dry, I don’t think we’re fast enough to be P4, but it’s a tricky track to overtake, so if I can get around the first lap in P4, that’s going to be super. If I lose a position or two after that, we still earn points and an excellent position for Sunday.
I always want to finish higher than fourth, but we’ve got to be realistic and clever. I want to push. I’m so close to the top now. You can win from P4! But we’re not fast enough to do that. We’re in a different battle; we’ve got to remember what we’re trying to do and benefit from this fantastic result today in a clever way.”
Mick Schumacher looked competitive throughout Friday but dropped out in Q2 after Carlos Sainz’s crash saw the session red-flagged and rainfall that prevented any further improvements.
“A mistake at Turn 7 led to me losing over a second so I think we would’ve been through,” Schumacher said. “It’s a shame but now we have two more races to come and hopefully we’ll be able to fight our way through – the car feels great!
