Rich Energy Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean qualified fifth and 11th, respectively, for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix, the ninth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship at Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. Magnussen was assessed a five-position grid penalty for a gearbox change following today’s FP3 session and will start Sunday’s race from 10th.
Grosjean led the way for the Haas F1 Team duo in Q1 with a 10th-fastest lap of 1:04.552 around the 4.318-kilometer (2.683-mile), 10-turn circuit to advance to Q2. Magnussen’s lap of 1:04.778 was 15th-fastest and was the final position to advance to Q2.
In Q2, Magnussen took the 10th and final position to advance to Q3 with a lap of 1:04.466. Grosjean, who had to pit early in the session to replace a damaged front wing, just missed his fourth top-10 qualifying effort of the season with the 11th-fastest lap of 1:04.490.
Magnussen laid down a solid lap of 1:04.072 in Q3 that was fifth overall – his best effort of the season. It was a best-of-the-rest effort that placed him behind a pole-winning Ferrari, a Red Bull and the Mercedes pair.
Magnussen and Grosjean ran exclusively on the Pirelli P Zero Red soft tire throughout qualifying.
Taking the pole for the Austrian Grand Prix was Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, whose fast Q3 lap of 1:03.003 bested the track record of 1:03.130 set in Q3 last year by Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas. It was his second career pole and second this season. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes was .259 of a second behind to take the second position on the grid.
Rich Energy Haas F1 Team PR
