Haas F1 Team finished the Hungarian Grand Prix, held on Sunday at the Hungaroring, with Mick Schumacher 14th and Kevin Magnussen 16th.
Magnussen started from P13, with Schumacher lining up P15, each VF-22 kitted out on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires. Both drivers gained three positions respectively at the start, running P10 and P12, but Magnussen was issued a black and orange flag after sustaining minimal damage to his front wing endplate on the opening lap. That forced the Dane into an unscheduled and early pit-stop, taking on White hard tires, and re-joining towards the rear of the field.
Schumacher pitted on lap 21 for hard tires, before both drivers came in once more for another set of mediums, Magnussen on lap 35 and Schumacher on lap 42. Magnussen boxed for a third time on lap 68, taking on Red soft tires to see him through to the checkered flag. Schumacher crossed the line P14, with Magnussen P17.
Up front Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen claimed victory ahead of Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Haas F1 Team holds seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship with 34 points.
Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team
“Our race was compromised massively by having to pit for the black and orange flag. I had slight contact at the start with one of the McLaren’s – I couldn’t avoid it – and it wasn’t that bad, so I was surprised to get the flag. Then later we couldn’t really switch the hard tire on, so it was good to get off that and do some laps on the medium compound. It was positive from the perspective that we could put the car on track and immediately measure what we were hoping for. It’s just going to be a lot of work to get the lap time out of it and that’s going to come over the next few races – it’s new potential to be unlocked.”
Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team
“It was again tougher than what we expected it to be. We hoped that the C2 compound would work and it didn’t, so in terms of strategy we maybe gambled on the wrong tire. We had a good start, that’s what we aim for, but unfortunately we couldn’t make it stick so it was P14 at the end. I think we have a lot to look back at, analyze and understand, so that for Spa we know how the new package works, what we need in terms of set-up and what we need to be quick. I expect this package to work pretty well in Spa and if that’s the case, we’ll know then for sure.”
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team
“It was a difficult race today for us. Kevin with apparent front wing damage which actually in our opinion was a mistake by the FIA to call us out on. The front wing was clearly safe to continue so we lost half a lap and that means our race was over and then obviously to get the tires to work was difficult once we ended up in all the blue flags. It was the same for Mick, the C2 just wasn’t working, we didn’t get it to work, and we ended up where we ended up. Unfortunately, that was the race before the summer break but I’m sure we’ll regroup and come back in our old form not having issues like this.”
Next Up:
Round 14 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship is the Belgian Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Practice – Friday August 26. Qualifying – Saturday August 27. Race – Sunday August 28.
Haas F1 Team PR
