Spanish Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Hulkenberg led the way in knockout qualifying – the German posting a 1:12.708 on his second flying run in Q1 to advance into Q2. Armed with another pair of brand-new Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires, Hulkenberg clocked a 1:12.635 on his first set before going faster again on his second with a 1:12.310 – good for P13 on the grid.

Magnussen exited qualifying in Q1 after two timed stints on the soft rubber. The Dane’s second tour was his fastest, a 1:12.37, to place Magnussen P16 for Sunday’s race.

Lando Norris claimed pole position in Q3 – the McLaren driver capturing a second career Formula 1 pole with Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing second fastest at the checkered flag.

 

Nico Hulkenberg:

"I feel like I left nothing out there, produced some clean laps, and I think this was our ultimate pace, that’s the picture today. The car has been okay, but also tricky at times, but we still need to work on the high-speed balance, and general grip. I think on high fuel, all the weaknesses do get exposed a lot more, but everyone is in the same boat. I expect a close race tomorrow and probably some DRS trains."

Kevin Magnussen: 

"We knew qualifying was going to be close, you need to get everything out of it these days in this tight field. If you miss your best performance by even one tenth, you pay for it massively. It wasn’t a clean session again for us today, there was traffic. We’d have been through with a little bit more pace, and you need to have something in the bank when those things happen. We’re P16 but we seem to have a decent race car, so I think we can fight from there tomorrow if we pick a few off and get into a good race from there."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: 

"It was a bit of a tough qualifying session. Kevin, who was out after Q1, was a bit unlucky with traffic, so he couldn’t really get the best out of the car. Unfortunately, he just missed out on getting into Q2, and that’s disappointing as we wanted to get both cars into Q2. Nico got almost everything out of it I think, his first run was good and initially his second run was good, but I think that’s about the limit of this car. I think the best result we could’ve got today was P12, so one position out –I don’t think we had a chance to make it into Q3. High fuel pace has been a bit more encouraging, so starting from P13 and P16 we’ll look at the strategy tomorrow and see where we are."

Today's Data:

Event: Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix – Saturday June 22
Location: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain
Layout: 4.657-kilometer (2.893-mile), 14-turn circuit 
Weather: Cloudy
Air Temps: 24 degrees Celsius (75.2 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Nico Hulkenberg qualified 13th, Kevin Magnussen qualified 16th

Free Practice 3 (FP3) Rundown:

Hulkenberg: 13th overall (1:13.975), 20 laps 
Magnussen: 15th overall (1:14.074), 27 laps 
Fastest: Carlos Sainz of Scuderia Ferrari (1:13.013)

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

Hulkenberg: 12th overall (1:12.708) – Advanced to Q2
Magnussen: 16th overall (1:12.937) 
Fastest: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:12.143)

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

Hulkenberg: 13th overall (1:12.310) 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:11.653)

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins – Top 10 Drivers

Pole Winner: Lando Norris of McLaren (1:11.383)