Haas F1 Team had a tricky Saturday as they did not emulate the pace they had during the practice session earlier in the day and in the previous day.
During the final qualifying at the 2019 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Romain Grosjean did not make it out of the first session, ending the session in sixteenth, his teammate Kevin Magnussen did but only managed to get fifteenth in the second session.
Grosjean expressed that he felt qualifying was a very close battle, as he explained that the practice sessions pointed to Haas being in a good position. However, the french man went out of qualifying in the first session. He explained that he just felt his car was different in qualifying to the practice sessions.
“It was very close and very far today. After three sessions where we were sixth, seventh and 11th, I think we were ready for qualifying. We were thinking we could be around tenth or 11th. We got out there and the car just behaved very differently.“
He went on to express, that he and the team did not run the same package as the previous day due to the qualifying session taking place at night.
“Obviously, we didn’t run the same package as yesterday with the same track temperatures, that surely didn’t help us. It’s been the story of our season.
“You get things set up and then you go into qualifying and the car just doesn’t behave the same. I’m disappointed with that, but there’s nothing the guys could have done differently. We’ve done the best job we could. I’m looking forward to next year.”
Magnussen spoke on his practice and how he expected to carry the pace which Grosjean was showing through to qualifying and that he felt good about it.
However, Magnussen made it clear that he was not showing the same pace in the third practice session due to his programme, which he was running.
“We didn’t know what to expect, as always. It’s hard to say, but after Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 Romain (Grosjean) had been showing good pace with his car, and I was very positive. He obviously then had to go back to what I was running.“
Magnussen, suggested he was annoyed as in qualifying as he was down in fifteenth in qualifying, which is where he qualified even though he got himself into the second session. He did convey, that he was looking forward to race and coming through as he hopes for points in the final race at Yas Marina.
“Ultimately today we’re both down qualifying in fifteenth and sixteenth. That’s not good but I’m hoping we can do something tomorrow. We’re going to have a bit of fun and enjoy the last race of the season, let’s see if we can try and grab a point or two.”
