Guenther Steiner was pleased to see Kevin Magnussen secure a top six grid slot for the Monaco Grand Prix, but the Team Principal of the Haas F1 Team bemoaned the traffic problems that prevented Romain Grosjean joining his team-mate in Q3 on Saturday.
Magnussen was the best of the midfield pack and qualified an excellent sixth on the grid, which came despite the Dane damaging his front wing during Q2, with Steiner pleased with the smooth job at recovering from that situation to allow him to attack in Q3.
Grosjean, on the other hand, was looking to join Magnussen inside the top ten but found his run baulked by Red Bull Racing’s Pierre Gasly, who was penalised for the incident post-session. Steiner felt the Frenchman had the speed to join his team-mate inside the top ten but for the incident with Gasly that left him down in thirteenth.
“A very good day on one side of the garage,” said Steiner. “Kevin (Magnussen) did a fantastic job. We couldn’t have done anything better.
“The team was fantastic in reacting to when he had the damaged front wing. Everything was smooth, so I’m very happy and proud of that one, as can the guys.
“Romain (Grosjean) was impeded by Gasly – it was the wrong moment, at the wrong time, at the wrong place. He was pushed out of getting into Q3 by that, otherwise I think he would have made it in easily to Q3. Overall, I think we’re happier today than upset.”
Thanks to Gasly’s penalty, Magnussen profits to start fifth on the grid, but Steiner is hopeful that both drivers can deliver clean races so they can score more points on Sunday.
“We start P5 tomorrow with Kevin, because Gasly was penalized, and we just need to deliver a clean race, and get as many points as possible so we can build on our tally from Spain,” said Steiner.
