Styrian Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin qualified 19th and 20th, respectively, for Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix, Round 8 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Both Mazepin and Schumacher exited qualifying after Q1 having had three timed runs on Pirelli’s P Zero Red soft tires to try and crack the top-15 and advance to Q2. Schumacher set a fastest lap of 1:06.041 (P19) on his maiden run – the German failing to better it on his next two attempts on fresh sets of rubber. Mazepin clocked a best time of 1:06.192 (P20) – the Russian earning his time on his third and final Q1 run.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen secured his second successive pole position, the third of the season, and the sixth of his Formula 1 career. Verstappen’s fastest Q3 lap of 1:03.841 beat Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by .194 of a second.

Nikita Mazepin, Driver No. 9, Uralkali Haas F1 Team

“The weather is quite warm. The track temperature has gone up since FP3 however not too much, as we had very similar car balance in those two sessions with no surprises - but no negative surprises as well which I think is quite ok. T9 is reasonably simple. If you have too much understeer, you’re never going to keep within the white lines with the speed that’s necessary to carry. We added some front flap and I’ve kept it on track ever since. I was using FP1, FP2 and FP3 to try things that had no guarantee of working and to be honest they didn’t work, so we’ve come back to an original starting set-up and things were as we expected.”

 

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Uralkali Haas F1 Team

“Everybody improved a lot in that last run, and I don’t know how much we would’ve improved. Thinking that we would’ve, we would be around P17, P16 which would’ve brought us closer and maybe into contention for Q2. It’s unfortunate but it’s been a very good weekend up until now. We’ve had very good Free Practice sessions and now we need to do a bit more in the race. Hopefully race pace will be enough to keep up with the guys and win some battles.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Uralkali Haas F1 Team

“Obviously, the result is not what we like, but it is what it is – as I continue to say week in and week out now. I think over the weekend we’ve made progress, as much as you cannot see it as we’re where we were a few weeks ago on the timesheets. But we keep on learning, keep getting things done, and the day will come when we have better results.”

 

Today's Data

Event: Qualifying for the Styrian Grand Prix – Saturday June 26
Location: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria
Layout: 4.318-kilometer (2.683-mile), 10-turn circuit
Weather: Partly Cloudy
Air Temps: 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 54 degrees Celsius (129.2 degrees Fahrenheit)
Pole Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:03.841) 
Result: Mick Schumacher qualified 19th, Nikita Mazepin qualified 20th 

Free Practice No. 3 Rundown

Schumacher: 16th overall (1:05.992), 24 laps completed
Mazepin: 20th overall (1:06.692), 22 laps completed
Fastest: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:04.369)

Q1 Rundown: 

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

Schumacher: 19th overall (1:06.041)
Mazepin: 20th overall (1:06.192)
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:04.489) 

Q2 Rundown: 

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

Fastest: Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing (1:04.197) 

Q3 Rundown: 

12-minute session featuring the Top 10 from Q2

Pole Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:03.841)
Second: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:04.035)