AUSTIN — On Thursday, Nico Hulkenberg met with the assembled media at the Circuit of the Americans. SB Nationin Hearth's hospitality space. During that discussion, the German driver said he was optimistic heading into the weekend considering the upgrade package the team brought to Austin. As Hulkenberg pointed out, the upgrades seemed to work much better for the team in this campaign as opposed to the 2023 season.
It seems that there is an optimistic view.
Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will advance to SQ3 in Austin on Friday, with the pair set to start inside the top eight at lights out for Saturday's F1 United States Grand Prix sprint race. Hulkenberg will start from 6th on the grid, with Magnussen just behind him in 8th.
Team leader Ayao Komatsu praised the results after the session, calling them “a great result.''
“It was a great result,” Komatsu said. “Kevin on the medium tires was in the lead and doing very well, but Nico was actually catching up, but he wasn't as happy with the car as Kevin. Towards the end of SQ2 , Nico had some pretty big water leak issues so it was really touch and go whether we would be able to send him out in SQ3, but everyone in the garage did a great job getting him out. When leaving the garage, the margin was only 10 seconds.
“On the used soft tires he put in another great lap and took 6th place. Kevin on the other hand was a little disappointed with his 8th place on the new tyres, but if you are disappointed with 8th place then It's a good place.''I think the important thing is that we have more potential, so it was a really good day. ”
Hulkenberg seemed almost surprised by the result after the session, saying in his comments that it was “tricky”.
“I've got to let that sink in for a little while. It was a very tricky qualifying as there were some real ups and downs. In SQ1, the car wasn't very good, so I think we were lucky to get through. I didn't expect that because I was lucky and it got better in SQ2, and it got better again in SQ3 because I feel it's difficult to drive with the wind etc. , but there is much more data to consider.”
Magnussen, who will receive an upgrade after the F1 sprint race, said he was not “too surprised” by the result given the strength the team has shown so far this weekend.
“I think I felt good all day so I’m not really surprised to be in the front. Nico just aced it in the last lap when he needed it and I’m really happy that both cars got into SQ3. “I'm here,” Magnussen said in the team's post-session report. “Sixth and eighth in tomorrow's sprint is a good start to the weekend.
“Nico is running with the upgrades so we want to see that car run faster so we are very happy to see him there and I will receive an update after the sprint ” Taking the data and splitting the car is good and definitely the right decision. I tried my best today to get points tomorrow. ”
Let's see if Haas can achieve these points in just a few hours.
