Belgian Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

However, with a raft of power-unit related grid penalties being applied post-qualifying, Magnussen will start Sunday’s 44-lap race 12th with Schumacher, one of the penalized drivers, lining up 20th on the grid.

Despite cloudy conditions above drivers enjoyed a dry qualifying when the knockout sessions began. Magnussen and Schumacher were amongst the first cars to hit the track – both on brand new sets of Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires. Magnussen banked a 1:46.648 lap to start, with Schumacher taking in two flying runs of 1:47.929 and 1:47.216 respectively. With a second set of softs bolted on Magnussen ran a lap of 1:46.557 placing the Dane 18th and out of qualifying. Schumacher posted a 1:46.342 for 15th on the timesheet and a slot in Q2.

The German started Q2 with a run on a scrubbed set of softs clocking a 1:47.718 in the process. While Schumacher enjoyed a follow-up stint on new softs, a lock-up denied him the chance to better his earlier time. Schumacher exited qualifying 15th overall.

Max Verstappen was fastest in Q3 courtesy of a 1:43.665 lap but with his grid penalty applied, the pole slot goes to Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who claimed second in qualifying with a 1:44.297 effort.

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“It was a bad lap and I made a couple of mistakes. It seemed like everyone found a lot of lap time unfortunately, so that second lap was where it needed to be. I don’t know if we had the pace to be that far up anyway, but a lot of people have penalties tomorrow, so we’ll gain a few positions back and then hopefully our pace is better in the race. It’s Spa, so there are always opportunities it seems and I’m looking forward to it as always.”

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team

“It went better than we hoped. We thought that we would be out in Q1 so it’s a positive surprise. We know that tomorrow is going to be a tough race and we’re going to be starting further back than we wanted, but on this track it should be quite easy to overtake so we’ll try our best and give it a shot. We’ve not had as much running as we wanted, especially today, so we’ll put together what we know and hopefully it will be alright for tomorrow. My hopes are still high that we can move forward, Spa is always full of action, so I’m sure we’re going to get loads of it tomorrow.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“Following on from Friday I think we gained some momentum in FP3. Yesterday I didn’t think we would get there but the performance of the car was there, and we were on a good run. Kevin, on his second outing in Q1, locked up in Turn 8 and wasn’t too fast in Turn 12 or Turn 13 so he went out. Mick made it out of Q1 which was very good considering he didn’t get a quali sim lap in FP3. In his Q2 run, he locked up at Turn 1 and that was it, so on one side I can say I’m surprised that we got this far but I’m obviously disappointed with having the performance and then not delivering. Kevin will start P12 tomorrow so there’s still a chance for points because we seem to have made a good step forward with the car from Friday. With all the changes, Mick will unfortunately start last and it’s difficult to catch-up from there but we should never say never – it’s a long day tomorrow.”
 

Today's Data

Event: Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix – Saturday August 27
Location: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Layout: 7.004-kilometer (4.352-mile), 19-turn circuit
Weather: Cloudy
Air Temps: 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Mick Schumacher qualified 15th, Kevin Magnussen qualified 18th 
Notes: With Grid Penalties Applied – MAG starts 12th / MSC starts 20th 

Free Practice 3 Rundown:

Magnussen: 17th overall (1:46.982), 13 laps completed
Schumacher: 20th overall (1:52.494), 6 laps completed
Fastest: Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing (1:45.047)

Q1 Qualifying: 18-mins with all 20 drivers – Top 15 advance to Q2

Schumacher: 15th overall (1:46.342) – Advanced to Q2
Magnussen: 18th overall (1:46.557) 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:44.581)

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

Schumacher: 15th overall (1:47.718) 
Fastest: Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari (1:44.551) 

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins featuring the Top 10 

Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:43.665)