Australian Grand Prix: Race Recap

Schumacher started the race from 15th place on the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and made up a place early on before moving past Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. A minor wide moment at turn 10 cost Schumacher a couple of positions and he came into the pits on lap 14 to take on White hard tires. Schumacher remained in the hunt for the top 10 but ultimately classified in 13th at the checkered flag.

Magnussen started 16th on hard tires and picked up positions before unfortunately running wide while chasing Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. Magnussen stayed out behind the safety car to rise to seventh before making his sole pit stop under virtual safety car conditions on lap 39, taking on mediums. Magnussen emerged in 17th but battled his way through to 14th, coming home directly behind Schumacher.

Up front Charles Leclerc registered a dominant victory for Scuderia Ferrari, ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes AMG’s George Russell.

Haas F1 Team holds seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship with 12 points. 

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“It was good fun and a nice track. Disappointed not to get points today but we made a small gamble on the hard tire as we felt we were faster than our position, which we were, but the safety car came and ruined the strategy. The starting set-up that we had here wasn’t good and we were struggling a little bit with tires on this new tarmac but we were able to turn it around and get much closer to the pack in the race and have pretty decent pace. We were able to turn things around and we’ll score points next time.”

 

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team 

“It was a very eventful one. Right from the beginning with Carlos coming around and cutting back across the track, I think we got missed by a few meters there, and obviously Yuki under the safety car coming quite close together. I think in terms of pace we were not too far off, it’s just unfortunate that there’s not a huge amount of passing opportunities here. Lots was learned, some positives, so we’ve just got to take it away with us and hopefully be better in Imola.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“It didn’t work out as we planned. We always make sure that the safety car is out at the wrong time – but seriously though – sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you get unlucky. The car was strong and the drivers did a good job so we know if we qualify better we can score points, and that is what we keep on trying to do. As I always say, this year we’ve got a car that can score points, we’ve just had a difficult weekend. It’s one of three which was difficult, here we go again in Imola.” 

 

Today's Data

Event: Australian Grand Prix – Sunday April 10
Location: Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne
Layout: 5.279-kilometer (3.280-mile), 14-turn circuit
Weather: Sunny
Air Temps: 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit)
Race Winner: Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari
Team Result: Mick Schumacher – Started 15th / Finished 13th (Running – completed 57/58 laps)
Kevin Magnussen – Started 16th / Finished 14th (Running – completed 57/58 laps)