Emilia Romagna Grand Prix: Race Recap

Hulkenberg started from 10th place on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and gained two positions on the opening lap, overtaking the RB pair of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo. Hulkenberg came in on lap 13 for White hard tires but was undercut by Tsunoda, and later relinquished further positions to the offset and recovering Red Bull of Sergio Perez, before being passed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to drop out of the top 10 runners. Hulkenberg took the checkered flag just shy of the points in 11th place.

Magnussen took the start from 18th on the grid, also on medium tires, and slotted into 14th during the early stages of the race. Magnussen ran a long first stint before coming in on lap 37 for hards, emerging on-track in 17th place. Magnussen used the fresher tires to good effect to carve his way through the midfield contingent, and followed Hulkenberg home by finishing in 12th spot, 1.1 seconds behind his teammate. Magnussen gained six places, the biggest mover in the race.

Up front Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen recorded victory, his fifth of the season, ahead of McLaren Racing’s Lando Norris, and Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third.

Nico Hulkenberg:

“We got undercut by Yuki, so that was one position lost, and Checo in his Red Bull was coming through and there’s no holding him back on much fresher tires on a different strategy. Frankly, I don’t think we had quite enough pace, it feels like we were missing a little bit and the strategy to pit early made life quite hard. It was a long final stint and it was a struggle to find a good harmony and rhythm. I think it’s confirmed now that we can compete in the midfield and that’s great compared to last year. However, you get used to these nice things and you always want more, and I want to be fighting for points so we need to keep pushing.”

Kevin Magnussen:

“I think we had a decent day. We didn’t get anything for free in terms of cars ahead having problems, so P12 for us meant we really earned that by overtaking people on track and fighting for it. It felt like a good race, but we just started too far back. We showed today that the pace was there, and we were gaining on our competition in the midfield, but our starting position that meant we didn’t score points today.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“Again, slightly mixed feelings. I think Kevin drove a really great race, a good, clean race, especially after Miami, and I think he delivered. I think he would’ve had a decent chance of scoring points in P10 if it wasn’t for the timing of his pit stop. The pit stop itself wasn’t great but we just took too much risk delaying a stop as late as that, so that’s frustrating. The positive thing here is Kevin drove very well, he deserved to score points.

“It was a bit tricky for Nico as he was fighting against two RB’s which is our main competitor. He drove a good race but pitting that early in terms of hard tire degradation wasn’t easy, so in hindsight we probably would’ve done something different there. All in all, it’s very positive that we’ve done seven races and at every single race we’re there or there abouts on the edge of scoring points, but there is no margin. I’m encouraged by this development and in Monaco we’re looking forward to having another crack at it.” 

Today's Data:

Event: Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – Sunday May 19
Location: Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola
Layout: 4.909-kilometer (3.050-mile), 19-turn circuit 
Weather: Partly Cloudy
Air Temps: 24.9 degrees Celsius (76.8 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 degrees Fahrenheit)
Race Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing
Team Result: 

Nico Hulkenberg – Started 10th / Finished 11th (Running – 62/63 laps)
Kevin Magnussen – Started 18th / Finished 12th (Running – 62/63 laps)