Austrian Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

The opening day of track running began with Free Practice 1 – the only practice session of the Sprint weekend. Hulkenberg and Magnussen ran identical plans – both utilizing the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tire to start. Magnussen clocked a 1:07.502 with Hulkenberg posting a 1:08.001 before a short spell in the garage and returning to track on the same compound for a second stint. Their third and final run was spent on a fresh set of Red softs for quali sims, where Magnussen improved his fastest lap time by the checkered to a 1:06.497 (P7), while Hulkenberg logged a best tour of 1:06.846 (P13). 

Hulkenberg and Magnussen began the opening session of qualifying with a new set of Red soft tires, Hulkenberg’s first fast lap deleted for track limits – a recurring theme of the session amongst the field – while Magnussen set a banker lap of 1:06.006. A red flag halted Q1 after Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas spun coming out of Turn 1 and stopping out on track.

The session resumed with under 12 minutes remaining, and both VF-23s headed back out on another new set of red rubber. Magnussen’s returning lap was deleted for track limits at Turn 10, and although the Dane did improve on his final timed run, his quickest time of 1:05.971 wasn’t enough to progress to Q2, Magnussen classifying P19. Hulkenberg set two timed laps, his fastest time of 1:05.740 placing him P14 and through to the next stage of qualifying.

Q2 saw Hulkenberg leave the garage early in the session, registering a time of 1:05.362 on his first run. Putting on another set of the softest compound, he improved his time (1:05.301) which was later deleted for track limits at Turn 6, but with a plethora of competitor lap times also being deleted, Hulkenberg finished the session P9 and into the final stage of qualifying. 

Hulkenberg exited the garage on a used set of softs to start Q3, banking a lap time of 1:05.903. For the final run of the day, a new set of softs were bolted on and the German managed to better his time, achieving a fastest lap of 1:05.090 and classifying P8.

Out front, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing scored pole position for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix, ahead of the Scuderia Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. 

Saturday’s schedule begins with the Sprint Shootout determining the grid for the Sprint later the same day. 

Kevin Magnussen:

“It’s all so tight at the moment. I had traffic with Verstappen at Turn 1 on the first lap of my final run, but that lap was deleted for track limits – it wouldn’t have counted anyway. Then on my second attempt I had a downshift fault, it wouldn’t downshift, so it cost me a little bit of time at Turn 3 as I was in the wrong gear. When it’s this tight, in fact it’s unbelievably tight – a little issue like that is very costly. Normally you can get away with something like this, but we were just on the wrong end of it today.”

Nico Hulkenberg:

“Q3 is always good news. We know though the difficulty is in the race for us, but I’m happy to have another smooth qualifying. I extracted everything from the car, and it was a clean execution from myself and the team, which is a positive, and very good for today. One session of one hour is very little time to do things and you also have to prepare a little bit for qualifying. Tomorrow we’ll get a first read and a first answer on how it’s going to go.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal:

“Let’s start with the good news, Nico made it into Q3 and ended up P8, which is a good result for us to be in the top 10 again. Obviously, Kevin’s lap didn’t go so well on his second run. His first run was very good on his first set of tires and he had a solid time and had no risk at all. On the second run on the first lap, after Turn 1 he found Verstappen parked on the outside and obviously lost some time and concentration and he couldn’t better his second fast lap, and that was it for him. One is good and one is not so good. It’s a busy day tomorrow with Sprint qualifying and the Sprint so we’ll just try to get them into the top 10 again.”

Today's Data

Event: Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix – Friday June 30
Location: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria
Layout: 4.318-kilometer (2.683-mile), 10-turn circuit 
Weather: Cloudy
Air Temps: 27.8 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 42 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Nico Hulkenberg qualified 8th, Kevin Magnussen qualified 19th 

Free Practice 1 (FP1) Rundown:

Magnussen: 7th overall (1:06.497), 27 laps completed
Hulkenberg: 13th overall (1:06.846), 30 laps completed
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:05.742)

Q1 Qualifying: 18-mins with all 20 Drivers – Top 15 Advance to Q2

Hulkenberg: 14th overall (1:05.740) – Advanced to Q2
Magnussen: 19th overall (1:05.971) 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:05.116)

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

Hulkenberg: 9th overall (1:05.362) – Advanced to Q3
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:04.951) 

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins – Top 10 Drivers

Hulkenberg: 8th overall (1:05.090)
Pole Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:04.391)