British Grand Prix: Race Recap
July 9, 2023MoneyGram Haas F1 Team driver Nico Hulkenberg finished 13th at the British Grand Prix while teammate Kevin Magnussen was forced into retirement as Round 11 of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship played out on Sunday at the Silverstone Circuit.
Hulkenberg took the start from 11th on the grid on Pirelli P Zero White hard tires and remained among the midfield contingent during the early stages, before picking up front wing damage. Hulkenberg came in for a new front wing, and to change onto Yellow medium tires, re-emerging at the rear of the train. The German came in for another pit stop on lap 34, under the virtual safety car, to take on a set of the soft rubber. Hulkenberg used the fresh tires to move into 13th position, which he preserved through to the checkered flag.
Magnussen started from 19th place on medium tires and ran a lengthy first stint aboard the VF-23, holding position in a tightly-contested midfield fight. Unfortunately Magnussen’s race came to a premature end on lap 32 when his car suffered a terminal power unit failure along the Wellington Straight.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team sits in eighth position in the Constructors’ Championship on 11 points.
At the head of the pack Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen secured his sixth successive win, and eighth of the 2023 season, ahead of the British duo of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes AMG’s Lewis Hamilton.
Kevin Magnussen:
“There was an issue yesterday in qualifying and then today I didn’t finish with another engine issue – so not the best weekend for us. It’s a shame of course, but it’s not like we were in a point scoring position. I think tire degradation-wise it was better than we expected. We have some work to do to find some more pace, but we just need to get our heads down, work hard, and keep pushing.”
Nico Hulkenberg:
“The race was badly impacted early on when Checo (Perez) came through on the exit of Turn 4 and we made contact. A big piece of the front wing fell off one lap later and that forced us to pit early, we had to change the front wing and that cost a lot of time, and we were just behind. The safety car got us back onto the train of cars but then in traffic, we didn’t have enough pace to come through.”
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal:
“It’s been a very disappointing weekend. We just didn’t have the pace and we’ve now had our third engine failure in three races as well – that doesn’t help us. We have to regroup and see how we move forward from here because we need to get out of this hole. Everybody will be working on it obviously, but today was simply not a good day.”
Today's Data
Event: British Grand Prix – Sunday July 9
Location: Silverstone Circuit, England
Layout: 5.891-kilometer (3.66-mile), 18-turn circuit
Weather: Partly Cloudy
Air Temps: 22 degrees Celsius (71.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 29 degrees Celsius (84.2 degrees Fahrenheit)
Race Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing
Team Result: Nico Hulkenberg – Started 11th / Finished 13th (Running – completed 52/52 laps)
Kevin Magnussen – Started 19th / DNF (Retired – completed 31/52 laps)