Japanese Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Magnussen exited qualifying after the opening session, utilizing three sets of Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires. The Dane banked a 1:31.203 on his first lap before improving on his final run with a fastest time of 1:30.131 to classify P18.

Hulkenberg successfully navigated his VF-24 through Q1 on two sets of the red compound. A time of 1:30.518 was improved on his second run, securing a 1:29.821 to progress to Q2 in P14. 

With track evolution increasing rapidly and a congested track being a challenge for all, Hulkenberg left the garage promptly in Q2. On a used set of the softs, an initial lap of 1:30.658 was deleted for a track limits violation. On his second run, the German just missed out on extending his afternoon session – a best effort of 1:29.494 placing P12.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen made it a clean sweep of fastest times in qualifying. The Dutchman claimed pole position in Q3 with a 1:28.197 lap ahead of teammate Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Nico Hulkenberg:

“I’m really happy and very pleased with the performance, they were good, clean laps – I enjoyed qualifying. Last year, I had a messy session, so this time I was really keen to have a clean one and I think we really exploited the maximum out of our package, even if it’s really marginal that we missed Q3 as that really was as good as it is for us. Yesterday, things weren’t looking so great in FP1, as expected our package isn’t super happy around Suzuka, so I’ll take P12 happily.”

 

Kevin Magnussen:

“I think we improved the car for qualifying, but we started quite far from where we were with the set-up from yesterday. It’s not been the cleanest run-up to qualifying, we’ll run this set-up tomorrow, but we improved the car and the consistency – it’s still just lacking pace. We knew this track wasn’t going to be our track, but on top of that, on our side of the garage, we’ve maybe just missed the beat a little bit on the build up to the weekend. Anyway, we have a race tomorrow, and hopefully – like the first three races of the season, we can make some ground up in that. We’ll certainly be trying.”

 

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“Overall as a team it was a good qualifying session. We wanted to get into Q2, which we couldn’t quite manage with Kevin but even then, we made some set-up changes which he was very happy with. We gave ourselves the best chance by doing three runs but ultimately, he couldn’t get there. The changes were in a positive direction, so the race is looking better for Kevin. As for Nico, as usual, it was his Q1 run two and Q2 run two – he delivered excellent laps. We couldn’t ask for more than P12 today, and he also made some set-up changes too. All round, a good recovery from practice in difficult conditions with an exposing weakness at this track, but as a team I think we worked well.”

 

Today's Data

Event: Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix – Saturday April 6
Location: Suzuka International Circuit, Suzuka
Layout: 5.807-kilometer (3.608-mile), 18-turn circuit
Weather: Cloudy
Air Temps: 17.9 degrees Celsius (64.2 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Nico Hulkenberg qualified 12^th, Kevin Magnussen qualified 18^th

 

Free Practice 3 (FP3) Rundown:

Hulkenberg: 16^th overall (1:31.139), 22 laps
Magnussen: 20^th overall (1:31.462), 21 laps
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:29.563)

 

Q1 Qualifying: 18-mins with all Drivers – Top 15 Advance to Q2

Hulkenberg: 14^th overall (1:29.821) – Advanced to Q2
Magnussen: 18^th overall (1:30.131)
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:28.866)

 

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

Hulkenberg: 12^th overall (1:29.494)
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:28.740) 

 

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins – Top 10 Drivers

Pole Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:28.197)