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Haas
Haas looked very quick in practice, especially in the hands of super-sub Bearman. He picked up where he left off in Baku as he deputised for the unwell Kevin Magnussen. Come qualifying, once again Bearman impressed as he made it to the top 10 shootout. Hulkenberg couldn’t follow suit, complaining about the bumps in the track as he had to make do with P12. But in SQ3, Bearman made a mistake on his only flying lap, running wide and having his time deleted. It was a curious moment, as he had time to back off and try again but instead completed the lap – even though it looked clear cut that track limits would be a factor.
READ MORE: Bearman thrilled to reach SQ3 in Sao Paulo amid last-minute Haas call-up as several surprise names make top 10
Nico Hulkenberg, 12th, 1:09.964
“The resurfaced track is not amazing to be honest, so that was a big topic after practice. This session was a bit difficult, a bit of a continuation from last week with the struggle of not finding harmony in the car. I was very happy with my lap, but I didn’t have anything else to find – so it’s strange. We need to investigate as I didn’t feel the love from the tire and didn’t feel like I had the grip. The Sprint is a bit of a reset with parc ferme being open so we can work on set-up, so we’ll take it step-by-step.”
Oliver Bearman, 10th, No time set in SQ3
“The car was feeling really good all day, from the first lap in practice. I’m happy to be in SQ3 and have made it through to the third stage of a qualifying session. I made a mistake in sector one, which cost me a lot of time as the rest of the lap was really good, so I’m disappointed with that. Ayao woke me up this morning with his call about driving today, and I give my best to Kevin as I know he doesn’t feel great and has had a lot of success on this track. I’m happy to jump back into a Formula 1 car though, it’s always a pleasure.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“Ollie is impressive, considering he’s had minimal preparation, and it was a last-minute call-up. His first timed lap in FP1 was already impressive and then he built from there. His driving in SQ1 and SQ2 was amazing, and in SQ3 we had an issue on our side relating to the tire temperature control box, so the tires weren’t up to temperature, so the fact he went off in turn 2, was not his fault. His others sectors were very competitive, so I’m disappointed we couldn’t get his maximum potential out, but from his side it was impressive and he was happy with the car. On Nico’s side, he wasn’t as happy with the car. In FP1, the bumpiness of the track he struggled with, and then in Sprint Quali, he couldn’t find consistency. It’s a similar issue as in Mexico, so we need to look at how we can make the car better after the Sprint. Still, starting in P10 with Ollie, we can go for points tomorrow, so that’s what we’re focused on.”
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