Haas finished the qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix of Formula 1 showing signs of progress, placing Oliver Bearman in Q2 and confirming an improvement in the car’s behavior. The British driver will start from 12th position, while Esteban Ocon will start 16th.
Read more F1: Verstappen loses performance in Monza after new mechanical problem in Red Bull
Bearman highlighted that he was satisfied with the performance since TL1 and related the improvement to the update brought by the team. Despite the loss of speed on the straights, the driver pointed out a performance gain in the corners and set the goal to finish in the top ten.
“Since the first lap in TL1, I am happy with the car. It was exactly in the direction we were seeking in the last races. We are not great on the straights because of the update, but we are faster throughout the lap, with a gain in downforce in the corners. The goal tomorrow is the top 10 and points,” Bearman said.
Ocon, in turn, assessed that he managed to extract the maximum from the available car but again faced aerodynamic consistency problems. Haas made several changes before the qualifying session, including in TL3, but could not completely eliminate the loss of downforce.
Read more F1: Russell sees victory within reach even starting second in Monza
“I am happy with my lap in the qualifying session, we really maximized the potential we had today. We still had the loss of aerodynamic downforce in Q2, but I tip my hat to the team. It was a lot of work, with no reward in the end,” he added.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu considered Saturday positive and highlighted that both cars advanced from Q1, besides Haas managing to fight close to Audi for position in Q3. According to him, the greater ease for the drivers to extract performance confirms that development followed the right direction, although he recognizes that the starting positions make the race challenging.
Read more F1: Antonelli faces penalty and highlights help to Russell
