Kevin Magnussen explains the driving style nuances that allow Nico Hülkenberg to better exploit the potential of new tires
All is right with the world for Nico Hülkenberg. He won the team-internal duel in qualifying against Kevin Magnussen by 0.678 seconds. From Magnussen’s point of view, however, the 2024 season will start as it usually did in 2023, namely that he generally has no chance against the German on the fast single lap.
“The gap to Nico was too big. I have the feeling that I didn’t manage to maximize the potential of the new tires,” says Magnussen. “It’s a bit like last year. I don’t do so well with low fuel and new tires, and then it’s better in race trim. I just have to do better with less fuel.”
This is one of Hülkenberg’s specialties and, according to Günther Steiner, he is the best qualifier in the entire Formula 1 field. The Q2 comparison against Magnussen shows: Magnussen was ahead of Hülkenberg by as much as 0.060 until turn 4, but from then on Hülkenberg took the “lead” – and added a bit more in each (!) of the remaining corners.
“I don’t manage to use this extra grip in the rear tires with new tires. I always struggle with a bit of understeer in the middle of the corner, whereas Nico manages to steer the car better so that he can use the grip of the rear tires better than me when accelerating at the exit,” explained Magnussen.
“I’ll manage that too, but it’s not easy for me. Last year, the problem was more at the entrance to the corner, when the weight shifted forward under braking. With used tires I was always on a par, but he gets better grip out of new tires. I don’t quite understand it, but I’ll work on it.”
Magnussen finished 15th in Q1 and was 15th in Q2, 0.251 seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo (Racing Bulls) in 14th place. That is an improvement compared to 2023, when Magnussen was 17th in the first qualifying session of the new season. Even then, Hülkenberg was 0.614 seconds faster than him in Bahrain Q1.
At least Haas seems to have become more competitive as a team. While the pace on one lap has not suffered greatly, the race pace should have improved significantly. At least that is what the team itself claims, citing telemetry data from the three-day winter tests a week ago.
“The potential is good,” nods Magnussen. “We finally have a better handle on tire management. But we mustn’t become overconfident, because Bahrain is just one track. It has happened before that we were good in the first race and then dropped back. But now our approach is different. Hopefully that will have an effect. “
