Austrian Grand Prix: Sprint Qualifying Recap

Hulkenberg exited Sprint qualifying after the opening session, following two timed stints on the mandated Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tire. The German’s second tour was his fastest, a 1:06.583, to place Hulkenberg P17 for tomorrow’s Sprint.

Magnussen comfortably navigated his VF-24 through SQ1, recording a 1:06.387 to reach P10 on the timesheets. With the same medium compound required in SQ2, Magnussen set one timed lap in the session, a best effort of 1:05.806, placing the Dane just outside the top-10 shootout, finishing Sprint Qualifying P11.

Prior to Sprint qualifying, Friday’s solitary 60-minute practice session delivered P17 and P19 on the screens for Hulkenberg and Magnussen – both drivers working a run program consisting of medium and soft compound running. Baseline stints on the medium rubber were followed up with high-fuel runs. A switch to soft tires delivered the fastest laps of practice with Hulkenberg clocking a 1:06.966 and Magnussen banking a 1:07.145.



Nico Hulkenberg:

“It was very fine margins out there, it’s super tight and you need those thousandths in your favor. It wasn’t a great session, I was struggling to feel good, find the rhythm and harmony with the car. I already knew we were under pressure after the first lap and unfortunately, we didn’t have enough pace today. When you start behind and you’re going to be in traffic in dirty air, if it’s going to be dry, I suspect it’s going to be tough to make any progress. We need some mixed conditions like last year.”

Kevin Magnussen:

“It was a good qualifying, smooth and clean, didn’t have any traffic! We came out on track firstly with no traffic, but also with the best track evolution, and I feel for the first time this year – although it’s pretty late – it’s the first fully clean and well-executed qualifying so we have to keep this up. The feel of the car hasn’t been perfect, on the medium tire it feels like we are reasonably competitive on one lap, but over a long run I didn’t really know so we’ll see in the Sprint tomorrow how that goes and which tire we race on.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“The highlight of today was that Kevin did a very good job, putting a good lap together in SQ2 but unfortunately missed out on SQ3 by less than five-hundredths of a second. It was a really good effort, a really good lap, and he got the most out of the car so I’m very happy. With Nico, we don’t seem to have both drivers getting the best out of the car at the same time, he was unhappy with the car from FP1 and that carried on. He had no confidence in the low-speed corners, and when you don’t have that you can’t get near the limit of the car, so it’s something we need to work on tonight and tomorrow for the Sprint. The good thing about a Sprint weekend is that whatever we learn tonight and tomorrow, we can change for qualifying. That’s not just for Nico, there are certain things we need to look at for Kevin’s car as well. I’m very happy with Kevin’s performance, happy for his crew, but with Nico there’s a bit more work to do.”

Today's Data:

Event: Sprint Qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix – Friday June 28
Location: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria
Layout: 4.318-kilometer (2.683-mile), 10-turn circuit
Weather: Sunny
Air Temps: 27.5 degrees Celsius (81.5 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Kevin Magnussen qualified 11th, Nico Hulkenberg qualified 17th

Free Practice Rundown:

Hulkenberg: 17th overall (1:06.966), 31 laps 
Magnussen: 19th overall (1:07.145), 31 laps 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:05.685)

SQ1 Shootout: 12-mins with all 20 Drivers – Top 15 Advance to SQ2

Magnussen: 10th overall (1:06.387) – Advanced to SQ2
Hulkenberg: 17th overall (1:06.583) 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:05.690)

SQ2 Shootout: 10-mins – Top 10 Advance to SQ3

Magnussen: 11th overall (1:05.806) 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:05.186)

SQ3 Shootout: 8-mins – Top 10 Drivers

Sprint Pole: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:04.686)