On his Formula 1 return, Kevin Magnussen qualified an unbelievable seventh for the Uralkali Haas F1 Team at the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix, team-mate Mick Schumacher qualified in twelfth, the best result of his career so far.
On his returning weekend to the sport, Magnussen enjoyed arguably one of the best Qualifying performances of his entire career. the Danish driver was fast throughout the session and wasn’t even too far off putting his VF-22 on the third row. Magnussen made it into Qualifying 3 having only done one lap in Qualifying 2, the Haas driver had a hydraulic issue which meant he wasn’t able to do another lap.
In the end Magnussen didn’t even need another go at it, as his first lap in the second part of qualifying was enough to see him through into Qualifying 3, where he performed valiantly. A top six finish is well and truly possible for Magnussen on Sunday, in what would be an incredible change of fortune for the Uralkali Haas F1 Team, who sacrificed so much in 2021.
Magnussen can’t believe how amazing Saturday went and now can’t wait for the race to begin!
“It’s crazy. This is all we ever could’ve hoped for – I’m speechless. The last couple of weeks have been insane. Getting here, learning about the car, seeing that it is maybe a pretty good one and being so anxious about this qualifying to really see how it is and then finding out it is really good.
“I got through to Q3 on one set of tyres and in Q2 I only ran one set – I think I was P4 or something after the first run and ended up P7. Then we had some issue that needed more time to fix so we only got that one run again Q3 and still managed to get P7. It’s just so cool and I can’t wait to get started.”
“We know we have the potential” – Mick Schumacher
Mick Schumacher did a superb job in his first qualifying of the season to put his VF-22 in twelfth place for Sunday’s race, although he believes a top ten starting position was possible.
Schumacher making it out of Qualifying 1 meant that for the first-time since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, both Haas cars got out of the opening session.
Schumacher was disappointed not to qualify even higher than his new personal best, however the young German does feel that his first points finish is possible on Sunday.
“Q3 was definitely possible today and I’m gutted that I didn’t get there. The good thing is that we know we have the potential and it’s just a matter of putting it together over the next 23 races. Points are realistic, we have a car to do that, it’s just a matter of putting everything together. We have a lot of races coming our way so I’m sure we’ll be in a position to do that.”
