KANNAPOLIS, NC (WBTV) – It was another points-scoring finish for the Kannapolis-based Haas Formula One, but they had been hoping for a better day in Italy.
Haas F1 Team finished with Kevin Magnussen ninth and Mick Schumacher 17th at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, held Sunday at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
“We would have wished to have got a little bit more today but after four races, and three with points, we took something home and I think there is more to come,” said Team Principal Guenther Steiner. “It wasn’t an ideal race for us with Mick spinning on the first lap, which put him to the back, and with the field like it is now recovering is almost impossible. Kevin was fighting hard, was going well on the inters and then on the dry tires – we were just not fast enough for the others. We scored three points over the weekend – from the Sprint yesterday and the grand prix today, so we need to keep on working and get ourselves in the position to be at the other end of the midfield, not at the back.”
Heavy rain during the build-up to the race start meant both Magnussen and Schumacher required Pirelli Cinturato Green intermediates for lights out. Magnussen surged up to fifth place from eighth on the grid but unfortunately from his maiden top 10 grid spot Schumacher made contact with Fernando Alonso through the first chicane and was sent into a spin. That left Schumacher down in 17th.
The circuit dried sufficiently for slick tires on lap 19 and both Magnussen and Schumacher came into the pits to take on Pirelli P Zero Yellow mediums. Magnussen re-emerged in eighth while Schumacher maintained 17th on-track. The Dane got into a good rhythm but had to cede one position to AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, shuffling down to ninth, but it ensured Magnussen added two more points to his and Haas F1 Team’s tally – a third grand prix finish scoring points from the four contested this season.
“We scored points again – both yesterday and today – so that’s a good weekend,” Magnussen said. “When we qualified P4, hopes were very high at the beginning, but we’ve got to be realistic as well and getting away with points in both the sprint and the main race, that’s a decent weekend. At the beginning of the race, I was on intermediates and got up to P5 and the pace was pretty good. Then the track dried up and we were a bit late to come in for slicks, so we got undercut by a couple of people. We came out and fought for points – got two today, three points over the weekend – so it was pretty decent.”
Schumacher brought his Haas VF-22 home in 17th position after a second pit stop to switch onto Red softs to run through to the checkered.
“Unfortunately, I lost our position right at the beginning and then had to recover from there,” Schumacher said. “It was quite difficult, the Williams was very quick in the straights, so no chance for me there to get by. We were hoping we had more pace. It was quite unfortunate, but we live and we learn, we try to look ahead and do it better next time.”
Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen controlled proceedings to register his 22nd career victory, leading home Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez. McLaren’s Lando Norris completed the podium celebrations in third.
Haas F1 Team currently holds eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 15 points.
Round 5 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship is the Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome, USA. Practice – Friday May 6th Qualifying – Saturday May 7th Race – Sunday May 8th
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