An exceptional result for Haas
A surprise in Sprint qualifying, Haas managed to place both its drivers in the top 10. This augurs well for the battle for the Constructors' Championship.
Big smile at Haas on this Friday night in Austin. Indeed, the American team had an ideal start to the weekend at home. The battle for sixth place in the championship against Racing Bulls is more intense than ever, with only three points difference. The Sprint format weekends therefore offer two possibilities to gain extra points and try to make a difference.
Normally, the first eight places are monopolized by the top four teams, one must know how to take advantage of the slightest of their weaknesses. Oscar Piastri was the first to offer an opportunity by capitalizing on an error during his last attempt in SQ1. Nico Hülkenberg believed he could have faced the same fate: « I will need some time to realize it. It was a very tricky qualifying session, with ups and downs. In SQ1, I was not very comfortable in the car and I think we were lucky to make it through. I did not expect that. We were lucky. It improved in SQ2 and even better in SQ3 with the soft tires. »
In the end, the German driver set the sixth fastest time of the session, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. But his luck did not end with the first qualifying session, as he also experienced a major water leak during the second qualifying session. He only went out in the third qualifying session with a ten-second margin!
For Haas, the good news did not stop there as Kevin Magnussen also reached the top 10, with the eighth final time: “I think it was going well all day. So I am not surprised to be where we are. I am delighted to have both cars in Q3, with Nico who just did a perfect lap when he needed it on his last lap. Sixth and eighth for the Sprint is a good start to the weekend.”
Ayao Komatsu’s conclusion was therefore quite clear: It was an exceptional result. I think we have even more potential, so it’s a very good day.
The battle is likely to be intense as Yuki Tsunoda (ninth) and Franco Colapinto (tenth) will not be far behind and will also try to get into the points at the end of the Sprint.
From our special correspondent in Austin.
