Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Shanghai International Circuit, 2018

Magnussen feels “lucky” to miss Q3

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: Kevin Magnussen suspects failing to reach Q3 will put him at an advantage in today’s race.

What they say

Q: Unlucky to just miss out on Q3. How was it?

KM: I did miss out on Q3 but I’m not sure I’m unlucky. Probably not a bad position. I tried my best but I just messed up both the out-lap and the lap itself, ended up in P11. We’ve been through a whole lot of thinking about how to go about this because of the ultra-soft and the struggle you might have if you start on it. So I actually feel a little bit lucky to be honest.

Q: What’s the strategy look like? How big is the advantage?

KM: That’s what we’ll have to wait and see. Obviously I hope it’s going to be a big advantage. With the hotter temperatures that’s forecast it could be a big advantage. The ultra-soft has been working alight in the cold temperatures, overcast and cold weather, they’ve been OK, but still even in those conditions it was on the limit for many teams.

Q: So a good day to lose quali to your team mate?

KM: Yeah if there is a day it’s surely today. But we could still be wrong. If the ultra-soft does work, people could go 16, 18 laps on it, they will probably be able to do a one-stop also. But with a soft you’re very likely to be able to do a one-stop. That would be an advantage if other people can’t do that.

Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

Comment of the day

What is Max Verstappen hoping to achieve with his criticisms of Renault’s power units?

I think it is fair enough that some drivers choose to give their honest feedback over the radio on track, while they experience the issues and while everyone on the teams pit wall can check for themselves. The method will work very well in some organizations or cultures – I suppose it doesn’t work towards a Japanese manufacturer, who insists on solving all issues and problems without help from the outside. Reading Brawn’s book made it clear for me, that Honda must change and embrace assistance from the outside if they are to regain their dominance from the eighties.

But I don’t hear Verstappen’s complains as directed towards Renault, but just as much towards the engine mapping, the integration into the car. If You want to be the best in the world, You need to be able to push everyone to improve and not settle for “good enough”. Verstappen’s comments may be able to direct more resources towards improving the engine and the power pack integration in the car and the driver HMI, to make it more drive-able. A driver who quietly accepts a sub-optimal car, will never reach for the podium, but of course You could argue that he shouldn’t do it on the radio – I think it is good entertainment and give us fans more and better insight.
@Palle

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On this day in F1

  • Jim Clark won the Pau Grand Prix in a Lotus 25 today in 1963

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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9 comments on “Magnussen feels “lucky” to miss Q3”

  1. Am I the only one to find the round-up today?

    1. This is one long running piece of confusion I have about articles on this site……

      Why the latest article does not always appear first?

      I have wanted to ask the question so many times, but I assumed it had numerous times and that there was a technical reason, so I never did.

      But, it would make things so much easier and convenient.

      Maybe it is a ploy to force us to re-check every article that has been posted.

    2. For me, it helps that I use an RSS reader (Feedly) that shows only new articles when I check for it.

      But I agree with the general point, I think the round-up is a “special” article, and should be pinned to the top of the list (maybe with the exception of a race Sunday when it can be unpinned near the start of a race).

  2. That Red Bull article was a nice read. A few other factors outside the garage helped as well – that the car was parked towards the end of the lap and was easily recovered by rolling it back, that the car wasn’t retrieved via flatbed which might have otherwise introduced damage.

    I’m sure the adrenaline would have been soaring for everyone at Red Bull as the clock ticked down on Q1.

  3. Regarding Darren Health’s tweet: Is it actually true or merely his assumption that Ferrari would be performing oil-burning, which as far as I’m aware is banned as of now?

    1. @jerejj – I would wager a guess that he’s smelling the oil vapour & combustion by-product that is vented to the atmosphere, and not burnt oil.

      IIRC, the rule around oil burning was changed such that teams no longer route the crankcase breather vent into the intake system (which is what enabled oil burning), and now have to vent it into the atmosphere. So, what comes out would be a bit of oil vapour, and the fuel/air (and a bit of exhaust) mixture that has blown past the piston rings.

      Of course, the TV cameras have focused on the plume of vapour that emerges just above the taillight of the Ferrari-powered cars, so I’m not sure if there’s something more going on there. If there is, I’m sure we’ll hear more about it…

      … from Mercedes or Red Bull :-)

      1. What puzzles me is that it is only the main team Ferrari’s that smoke at start up, but all seem to be as quick as each other on the speed traps. I guess that smoking start up must be something Ferrari doesn’t want to let out in the world including their other costumers.

        1. I used to previously crack a joke about the Pope with all that white smoke, @peartree , but seeing as how he’s pledged his allegiance to Formula E, I might have to come up with something else.

          Hey – subliminal Marlboro sponsorship!

      2. @phylyp, There have been a few claims that, whilst Mercedes, Renault and Honda are all below the oil consumption limit, Ferrari’s engine appears to still be using the maximum permitted consumption of oil, which seems to be driving the speculation that they are still burning oil.

        There have been a few suggestions that, whilst the crankcase breather route might have been ruled out, Ferrari have found a different way of burning oil, with the suggestion being that they are allowing the seals in the turbocharger unit to “accidentally” leak small amounts of oil into the intake system for the engine.

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