AUSTIN — On Thursday on the Circuit of the People Nico Hülkenberg met with the assembled media, together with SB Nation, in Haas’ hospitality area. Throughout that dialogue, the German driver famous his optimism for the weekend, given an improve bundle the crew dropped at Austin. As Hülkenberg famous, in distinction to the 2023 season, upgrades appeared to be working a lot better for the crew throughout this marketing campaign.
Plainly optimism was warranted.
Each Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen pushed into SQ3 on Friday in Austin, and the pair will begin inside the highest eight when the lights exit Saturday within the F1 Dash Race at the US Grand Prix. Hülkenberg is about to start out sixth, with Magnussen proper behind him on the grid in eighth.
Crew Principal Ayao Komatsu hailed the “superb consequence” after the session.
“That was an incredible consequence,” stated Komatsu. “On the medium tires, Kevin was on high of it and doing very well and Nico was truly enjoying catch-up, he wasn’t as pleased with the automobile as Kevin. In the direction of the tip of SQ2, Nico had fairly a giant water leak problem so it was actually contact and go as to whether we may ship him out in SQ3 however everybody within the storage did an incredible job to get him out; once we left the storage, there was solely a ten second margin.
“On used softs he delivered an important lap once more to get P6, whereas Kevin was barely disillusioned to be P8 on the brand new tire, however if you happen to’re disillusioned with P8, that’s a very good place. I believe the factor is we have now extra potential, so it’s a very good day.”
Hülkenberg nearly appeared stunned on the consequence after the session, which he described as “difficult” in his feedback.
“I’ll should let that sink in for a bit. It was a really difficult qualifying because it was actually up and down. In SQ1 I didn’t really feel excellent within the automobile, and I believe we have been fortunate to make it via, so I didn’t count on that. We bought fortunate, and in SQ2 it bought higher, and it bought higher once more in SQ3 on the smooth tires. We nonetheless must look into the replace because it at the moment feels difficult to drive with the wind and every part, however we now have much more knowledge to take a look at.”
Magnussen, who is about to get the improve following the F1 Dash Race, was not “too stunned” on the consequence given the energy the crew has proven thus far this weekend.
“I believe it’s been trying good all day actually, so I’m not too stunned that we’re up there. I’m actually glad that we bought each vehicles into SQ3, with Nico simply acing it when he must on that final lap,” stated Magnussen within the crew’s post-session report. “P6 and P8 for tomorrow’s Dash is an honest begin to the weekend.
“Nico is operating with the improve so it’s additional good to see him up there as a result of we wish to see that automobile go faster, and I’m getting the replace after the Dash. It’s good to get knowledge and break up the vehicles, it’s undoubtedly the appropriate resolution. I did the very best I may as we speak so we will be on for factors tomorrow.”
We’ll see if Haas can ship these factors in just some quick hours.
