Austrian Grand Prix: Sprint Race / Qualifying Recap

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg kicked off Saturday morning in Spielberg with the Sprint – the third of six planned Sprint weekends on the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship schedule. Magnussen finished 9th with Hulkenberg 19th – the format only rewarding the top-eight finishers with points.

The initial start procedure was aborted, and an additional formation lap resulted in the Sprint being reduced to 23 laps. Once racing got underway, Magnussen – who started from P11 – gained two spots on the opening lap overtaking both Alpine team mates. The Dane was under DRS threat from the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll for the opening half of the race but he managed to create a six-second gap by the checkered flag, coming home in P9 and just outside of the points.

Hulkenberg took the start from P17 and also gained a couple of positions on Lap 1. Having held P15 through to Lap 21, the German overtook the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, but was deemed culpable for pushing him off track during the overtake and was issued a 10-second time penalty, resulting in P19 overall.

Saturday afternoon saw Hulkenberg and Magnussen turn their attention to qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix – securing 9th and 12th respectively on the grid for Sunday’s race.

Hulkenberg made it all the way through to Q3 and the top-10 in qualifying after comfortably steering his VF-24 through Q1 (P13) and Q2 (P9). A final Q3 lap of 1:05.385 on fresh Pirelli P Zero Red softs was good for P9 and a fifth-row grid slot.

Magnussen exited qualifying in Q2 – after reaching P5 in Q1 (1:05.508), a best lap of 1:05.347 earned P12 for Sunday’s race.



Nico Hulkenberg:

“Q1 was still a bit of a stretch but it was a process of getting my feeling with the car progressively better. In Q2 we kept finding time, especially on the final lap when it really mattered, and that brought us into the top 10. In Q3 it wasn’t perfect, but either way, the top eight cars in front of us are not in our race tomorrow, so I think we maximized everything. This morning Kevin had very decent pace, he was actually able to drive away from Aston Martin and Alpine, so I don’t think we have to be afraid or hide, I think we have a decent package for everyone in the midfield."

Kevin Magnussen:

“It was so tight out there, nothing happened, I just didn’t hook it up on the first attempt. It was a clean qualifying again which is a really big positive. I’m not finding myself as competitive on the soft tire compared to the other compounds so that’s something to look at. In the race, I hope we’re not on the softs, but we’re in a decent starting position to go for some points tomorrow.”
 
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“The Sprint was very good from Kevin’s side. I think that was actually the best consistent run we’ve had this season, there was very low degradation, and Kevin managed his tires pretty well. That was very competitive and finishing P9 as well is great – being the fifth quickest team – but unfortunately there are no points to show for it. We then moved on to qualifying and we knew if we did well, we’ll have a decent chance. Nico qualifying P9 and Kevin P12, that was a decent show. It’s very difficult to get all the laps perfect here but I feel like both did a good job, it’s a strong place to start.”

Today's Data:

Event: Sprint Race / Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix – Saturday June 29
Location: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria
Layout: 4.318-kilometer (2.683-mile), 10-turn circuit 
Weather: Sunny
Air Temps: 31.5 degrees Celsius (88.7 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 47 degrees Celsius (116.6 degrees Fahrenheit)

Sprint Race Rundown (23 laps):

Magnussen: 9th overall 
Hulkenberg: 19th overall
Sprint Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing

Q1 Qualifying: 18-mins with all Drivers – Top 15 Advance to Q2

Magnussen: 5th overall (1:05.508) – Advanced to Q2
Hulkenberg: 13th overall (1:05.596) – Advanced to Q2
Fastest: Carlos Sainz of Scuderia Ferrari (1:05.263)

Q2 Qualifying: 15-mins – Top 10 Advance to Q3

Hulkenberg: 9th overall (1:05.262) – Advanced to Q3
Magnussen: 12th overall (1:05.347) 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:04.469) 

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins – Top 10 Drivers

Hulkenberg: 9th overall (1:05.385)
Pole Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:04.314)