Monaco Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen qualified 12th and 15th respectively for the Monaco Grand Prix, Round 8 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Both Hulkenberg and Magnussen safely navigated their respective VF-24s through Q1, armed with two sets of Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires. Magnussen set his quickest time on his second set of rubber, with a lap of 1:11.832 to secure P12. Hulkenberg followed suit, with a fastest time of 1:11.876 to reach P14.

With track evolution increasing and a congested track, both drivers left the garage promptly in Q2. On his first set of red rubber, Magnussen recorded a lap of 1:11.725, which couldn’t be bettered on his second set of new softs due to traffic, the Dane’s best effort placing him P15 at the end of the session.

Hulkenberg set a banker lap of 1:11.928 which he later improved on his second set, taking the German up to P12 with a time of 1:11.440 at the checkered.

Home hero Charles Leclerc put his Scuderia Ferrari on pole position around the streets of the Principality, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Scuderia Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.

 

Nico Hulkenberg:

“I think the car is where it’s been looking all weekend, just not quite good enough for the top 10. My last lap was pretty clean in Q2, so I’m happy about that. Unfortunately, we just weren’t quick enough, but where we are in P12, we’re going to need to roll the dice and take some risks to get a result. We’ll have to see where everything unravels after the start.”

Kevin Magnussen:

“The pace was there in the car and I think we could’ve been fighting for Q3, and Q3 in Monaco means you score points, so I’m pretty gutted again. We fueled the car for another lap in case in the first lap we encountered traffic, and we could abort. I started the push lap, gained more than one tenth in the first corner but we aborted the lap. In the second lap, there was traffic the whole lap.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“It was a bit of a tricky one. On Kevin’s last attempt, he felt the tire was ready on the first push lap, but on that lap after Turn 1 we aborted to then use it as a prep lap. Then on his push lap, he locked it going into Turn 1 and didn’t have any green sectors, and didn’t improve. That wasn’t great and we didn’t maximize our potential.

“Nico’s lap was pretty clean and he made a decent improvement from the first run, but in Turn 18 he lost time so all in all, I feel like we didn’t maximize our potential. If we did everything perfectly, would we have made it to Q3? I’m not sure, I feel we didn’t have quite enough speed. It's going to be difficult in Monaco, but we’ll work something out to be able to take some opportunities.”

Today's Data:

Event: Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix – Saturday May 25
Location: Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
Layout: 3.337-kilometer (2.074-mile), 19-turn street circuit
Weather: Sunny
Air Temps: 21.6 degrees Celsius (70.88 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Nico Hulkenberg qualified 12th, Kevin Magnussen qualified 15th

Free Practice 3 (FP3) Rundown:

Hulkenberg: 13th overall (1:12.192), 24 laps 
Magnussen: 14th overall (1:12.216), 31 laps 
Fastest: Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari (1:11.369)

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

Magnussen: 12th overall (1:11.832) – Advanced to Q2
Hulkenberg: 14th overall (1:11.876) – Advanced to Q2
Fastest: George Russell of Mercedes (1:11.492)

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

Hulkenberg: 12th overall (1:11.440) 
Magnussen: 15th overall (1:11.725)
Fastest: Lando Norris of McLaren (1:11.760)