Pre Race
Time to go racing at the Red Bull Ring!
The Admin By Request powered Kevin Magnussen has arrived in Austria, ready for another round of the 2023 Formula 1 Championship. This weekend is one of the special F1 Sprint weekends where the drivers will get two opportunities to score race points – the Sprint Race on Saturday and the Main Race on Sunday. Qualifying for the Main Race takes place on Friday after the first and only practice session while qualifying for the Sprint Race – the Sprint Shootout – is green-flagged on Saturday.
Busy schedule? Oh, yes. But K-Mag likes it!
“I really like the F1 Sprint events, as there’s more stuff happening throughout the weekend and the pressure is on straight away after the first practice. You’re really performing and battling for important stuff. Even the practice session has way more pressure because it’s the only practice you get so you must find your rhythm and hit your marks early on and quickly to maximize your rhythm for qualifying. It’s just a more focused and more fast-paced weekend, and I quite enjoy that,” says Kevin.
The Dane’s best result at Red Bull Ring was a fifth place back in 2019, and the picturesque Austrian circuit often seems to fit the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team quite well. Why’s that?
“I don’t know why we’ve been strong here over the years I’ve been with Haas, but it’s a fun circuit. Sometimes there are these circuits you tend to go well at and hopefully we can keep that trend going,” says Kevin.
FUN FACTS: The Red Bull Ring is owned by the Red Bull energy drink company who bought the A1-Ring in 2004, renovated it, changed the name, and made it return to the Formula 1 calendar in 2014. The 10 corner and 4.3 km long circuit is one of the season’s shortest, and with lap times around 65 seconds you’ll see one of the closest qualifying sessions of the year. Red Bull Ring hosts the second of six F1 Sprint events in 2023.
Day #2
Update from the Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring where Kevin Magnussen unfortunately hasn’t had his most perfect weekend so far. Our favourite Formula 1 driver finished P14 in Saturday’s tricky Sprint Race and was supposed to start from a P19 in Sunday’s Main Race. However, technical changes on the setup in order to find more pace in the Dane’s Haas VF-23 race car means that K-Mag will now start the race from the pitlane… Let’s cross our fingers!
Day #3
The Austrian Grand Prix turned out to be a pretty disappointing one for Kevin Magnussen and the rest of the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. While teammate Nico Hulkenberg had to retire from Sunday’s race, K-Mag finished P19 after having been forced into the gravel by a competitor during the race.
“I had very poor pace. I went into the gravel at high-speed when de (Nyck de, red.) Vries pushed me on at Turn 6, and I don’t know if there was damage to the floor, so we’ll have to check that but there was no chance today. We’ll continue to work to improve as fast as we can. Great work by Nico, bringing some important points to team in Saturday’s Sprint Race,” Kevin said.
The good news is that K-Mag, Hulk and everyone else at Haas don’t have to wait that long to get back on track again. Round 11 of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship will take place already this weekend, 7-8 July, at the legendary Silverstone, Great Britain.
