Esteban Gutierrez gives Haas its first Q3
For the first time this season, a Haas made it through to Q3. It was Esteban Gutierrez's car. It was a more complicated day for Romain Grosjean, who suffered a gearbox problem in free practice, resulting in a five-place grid penalty. He will start only 17th.
For a few races now, Esteban Gutierrez has been knocking on the door of the points but has yet to succeed. This weekend, he has an excellent opportunity as he will start from 10th place, thanks to the first Q3 in the history of the young American team: « In qualifying, for the first time, we broke into the top 10 to make it to Q3. It was a big performance from everyone to set up the car throughout the weekend while having the communication and level of understanding needed to make it work. The laps were fantastic. I really enjoyed it and loved pushing the car. »
If the Mexican’s goal is to score his first points of the season, his teammate’s goal will be to climb up the ranks. Indeed, the Frenchman’s day was disrupted by an off-track excursion at the start of the final practice session on Saturday morning, caused by a transmission problem. Not only did he miss valuable track time, but he also received a five-place grid penalty.
He could only be frustrated at the end of a session concluded with the 12th fastest time and thus a 17th place on the grid: « It was obviously disappointing to go into qualifying knowing I had a five-place grid penalty. We paid the price for not having any running this morning. I’m not very happy with my qualifying. »
He will therefore have to try to compensate for this initial deficit in order to try to get closer to the points.
From our special correspondent in Monza
