Italian Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Event: Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix – Saturday September 5
Location: Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy
Layout: 5.793-kilometer (3.6-mile), 11-turn circuit
Weather: Sunny
Air Temps: 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit)
Pole Winner: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:18.887) 
Result: Kevin Magnussen qualified 15th / Romain Grosjean qualified 16th 

Free Practice No. 3 Rundown

Grosjean: 14th overall (1:21.205), 14 laps completed
Magnussen: 16th overall (1:21.436) 15 laps completed
Fastest: Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes (1:20.089)

Q1 Rundown: 

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

Magnussen: 13th overall (1:20.869), Advances to Q2
Grosjean: 16th overall (1:21.139)
Fastest: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:19.514) 

Q2 Rundown: 

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

Magnussen: 15th overall (1:21.573)
Fastest: Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes (1:18.952) 

Q3 Rundown: 

⦁    12-minute session featuring the Top 10 from Q2

Pole Winner: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:18.887)
Second: Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes (1:18.956)

 

Recap

Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean qualified 15th and 16th, respectively, for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, the eighth round of the 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

Grosjean and Magnussen were armed with three sets of the Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires for their Q1 qualifying runs. Magnussen’s opening lap of 1:21.618 was wiped off the board – deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 11. The Dane responded next time out with a 1:20.869 which was ultimately good enough for 13th and graduation into Q2. Grosjean ran a 1:21.402 to open his Q1 account and he too logged his fastest lap of the session on his second set of the soft rubber. The Frenchman posted a 1:21.139 for 16th – just missing the cut to extend his afternoon into Q2 alongside his teammate.

Q2 saw Magnussen take his first timed run on a set of used softs, a 1:21.573 banked on the timesheets. His flying attempt on fresh rubber went awry as he pushed hard and subsequently ran wide at the second Lesmo turn – Magnussen aborting the run to finish 15th at the checkered.

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes claimed pole position for the Italian Grand Prix in Q3 with the fastest lap in Formula One history – a 1:18.887 with an average speed of 264.362kph (164.266mph). This was Hamilton’s sixth pole of the season and his 94th career Formula One pole. His record-breaking lap beat teammate and second-place qualifier Valtteri Bottas by a mere .069 of a second.

Romain Grosjean, Driver No. 8, Haas F1 Team

“I’m disappointed as we’d made a change on the rear ride-height between final practice and qualifying – it didn’t work. I knew I could go through to Q2 today, but the change just made the car not great. Sadly, we’re out. As I said, it’s disappointing as I was convinced I could get to Q2 but instead I’m out in Q1. The race is usually a different story. Let’s see how it goes, hopefully the rear suspension will evolve and we’ll pick up some rear ride-height – that will help.”

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“I made a mistake and went off – I was on the limit. I knew that if I got a perfect lap in we could probably beat Raikkonen, so I tried to go for it. You have to give it a go but it didn’t work. We were either going to be 15th, or potentially 14th, we had nothing really to lose. It was good to get through to Q2 at least. P15 is one of the better qualifying results we’ve had this year, so we’ll take that. I’m hoping that we can do something tomorrow in the race, but I don’t think we really have the pace. It’ll have to be something out of the ordinary – so fingers crossed for that.” 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“At the moment, getting into Q2, it’s a good thing for us – we’re happy about that. Overall, the performance is still not where we want to be, but at least we’re going in the right direction. Both drivers did a good job, it’s just so tight to get out of Q1. So, we come away 15th and 16th on the grid. Kevin (Magnussen) tried to do the impossible when he got into Q2, which was to try and gain a few more spots. It didn’t work out, but he did the right thing, he tried hard – he could have been 14th on a good day. Hopefully tomorrow we can hold the pace of the other cars, put a good race in, and try and enjoy ourselves doing what we’re doing.”