Bahrain Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Event: Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix – Saturday November 28
Location: Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
Layout: 5.412-kilometer (3.363-mile), 15-turn track
Weather: Mostly Clear
Air Temps: 26 degrees Celsius (78.8 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
Pole Winner: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:27.264) 
Result: Kevin Magnussen qualified 18th / Romain Grosjean qualified 19th 

Free Practice No. 3 Rundown

Grosjean: 17th overall (1:30.652), 16 laps completed
Magnussen: 18th overall (1:30.759) 12 laps completed
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:28.355)

Q1 Rundown: 

18-minute session with all 20 drivers – Top 15 advance to Q2

Magnussen: 18th overall (1:30.111)
Grosjean: 19th overall (1:30.138)
Fastest: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:28.343) 

Q2 Rundown: 

15-minute session featuring the Top 15 from Q1 – Top 10 advance to Q3

Fastest: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:27.586) 

Q3 Rundown: 

12-minute session featuring the Top 10 from Q2

Pole Winner: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:27.264)
Second: Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes (1:27.553)

Recap

Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean qualified 18th and 19th, respectively, for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, the 15th round of the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at Bahrain International Circuit.

Both drivers saw their qualifying session end after the opening knockout round – Q1. The floodlit track remained largely silent for the opening five minutes of the session. Grosjean and Magnussen took their VF-20’s out on the Pirelli P Zero Red softs and started their flying laps with 10 minutes remaining. Magnussen clocked a 1:30.596 with Grosjean on a 1:30.554 before they returned to the garage to swap out for fresh sets of the soft compound. The Haas duo subsequently improved their lap times, but it wasn’t enough to advance into Q2. Magnussen lapped in 1:30.111 for 18th with Grosjean one spot behind in 19th courtesy of a 1:30.138 lap.

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes claimed pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix – the Mercedes driver collecting his 10th pole of 2020 and the 98th of his Formula 1 career. His Q3 fast lap of 1:27.264, a new track record, beat teammate Valtteri Bottas by .289 of a second. 

 

Romain Grosjean, Driver No. 8, Haas F1 Team

“We tried as hard as we could, but you cannot be happy when you’re P19. When you’re a competitor you want to fight for good positions. My last lap was actually quite good through the first two sectors. The last one I tried to push a bit more – go the way I enjoy driving the car and have done in the past. The car couldn’t quite take it, so I lost a bit of time. It wouldn’t have changed the world but I’m just trying to enjoy these last three races.”

 

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“It’s not been an unusual Saturday. Unfortunately, this is where we are - I don’t think we had a bad qualifying in terms of considering the car we have, we got the most out of it. It was a normal Saturday for us. There are at least always opportunities in the race, we just have to hope for that again tomorrow. We have to try and capitalize on situations if they come our way – something like a safety car. Fingers crossed that one of those things that we need happens tomorrow in the race.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“Not the positions we wanted to start tomorrow’s race from. It’s tough going at the moment, but like always, we’ll try to get the best out of Sunday. We always remain positive about it – we know we are a little bit behind this year. We’ll just aim for a good race tomorrow and you never know what might happen.”