Despite not bringing modifications to its car, Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher feel the team’s performance in Spain might be encouraging.
Several Formula One teams have chosen to introduce revised components for the Spanish Grand Prix, with several of Haas’ midfield opponents bringing a slew of improvements.
Haas, on the other hand, has decided to go with its current-spec VF-22 for the next few races before introducing a significant upgrade at the French Grand Prix in July.
Kevin Magnussen classified eighth, while Mick Schumacher closed out the top ten for Haas, which had its first double Q3 participation since 2019.
“I’m very happy with that,” said Magnussen talking about the impressive Qualifying performance.
“Two cars in Q3 for the first time this year just shows that the car is very good.”
“It’s been interesting because a lot of teams brought upgrades this weekend and it doesn’t seem like they’ve found a huge amount and we seemed to have also found a little bit, even without upgrades and just in the set-up.”
“We had a DRS issue, which cost me some lap time, how much I don’t know, but it was close to the top five and there was more in it.”
Schumacher’s first appearance in Q3 occurred after a hampered build-up to qualifying due to a right-rear brake fire early in Saturday’s final practice session.
“We’re obviously happy about getting into Q3,” said Schumacher. “Even though it didn’t really look like we were on the pace, we still managed to do well.”
“Not having driven FP3 definitely put a spanner in the works but we managed to overcome it, so I’m very happy about today and very thankful for the team.”
“It felt great knowing that we haven’t brought any updates and a bunch of teams have, knowing that we’re still in that ballpark is definitely a good feeling.”
