KANNAPOLIS, NC (WBTV) – The bid for a third consecutive double points finish for the Kannapolis-based Haas F1 Team ended in frustration at the French Grand Prix on Sunday.
“It was all going to plan until the safety car came out and it all went downhill from there,” said team principal Guenther Steiner. “The strategy team did a fantastic job to predict what the tires would do because they did exactly what was predicted. The safety car came out and we had to go and change the tire too early because we were on a two-stop and all the other cars on a one-stop got a free stop, so what can you do. The car once again showed that it’s fast, we just need to regroup and hope that we don’t get unlucky – I don’t even ask for luck!”
Haas F1 Team finished with Mick Schumacher 15th, while Kevin Magnussen was forced to retire, at the French Grand Prix, held Sunday at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Schumacher started from 17th position on the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and gained places to hold 14th through the first stint. Schumacher came in on lap 10 for white hard tires, emerging at the back of the train, before making a second stop for the same compound on lap 19, during a safety car caused by Charles Leclerc’s accident. Shortly after the restart Schumacher was spun through Turn 11 after contact from Zhou Guanyu, for which the Alfa Romeo driver was penalized. Schumacher recovered to the track and was eventually classified in P15.
“We had a difficult start on the medium tire, it didn’t really work as well as we imagined,” Schumacher said. “We knew it was going to be tough, so we came in early but unfortunately there was a safety car, which meant for a lot of people it was a free stop essentially. With a pitlane like we have here, the difference is quite big, so we were quite far behind and then we had contact with Zhou. Overall, it was quite tough but we learned some things and hopefully we have a better weekend in Budapest.”
Magnussen qualified in 10th place but was demoted to 20th position on the grid due to taking on fresh PU components. From there Magnussen made a strong getaway on mediums, climbing up to 14th position, before capturing another couple of positions in the early stages. Magnussen pitted on lap 9 for hard tires and came in once more for another set of the hard compound during the safety car period. Magnussen returned to track in the lower segment of the midfield but was unfortunately involved in a collision with Nicholas Latifi at Turn 2 on lap 38. Magnussen boxed at the end of the lap to retire the car.
“We gave it our best and I tried very hard today, made some good moves, but at the end of the day, the degradation on the tires was high,” said Kevin Magnussen. “The car was great at the beginning of the stints and our pace was fantastic as we saw yesterday in qualifying as well. For some reason we had a lot of degradation and that’s why we couldn’t really fight today.”
Up front Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen claimed his seventh victory of the season, ahead of Mercedes AMG drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Haas F1 Team maintains seventh place in the constructors’ championship with 34 points.
Round 13 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship is the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, Budapest. Practice – Friday July 29. Qualifying – Saturday July 30. Race – Sunday July 31.
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