‘Days like this is what makes you happy’

Kevin Magnussen said “days like this is what makes you happy” after he and team-mate Mick Schumacher completed a third-row lockout in Montreal.

The Dane finished the better of the two drivers, putting his Haas car in P5, while Schumacher earned a career-best P6, one spot behind him as Haas locked out the third row in their joint best ever result in Formula 1.

The performance again showed the Haas’ potential in wet conditions having produced a similarly elevated level of performance in Imola.

It was a welcome turn of fortune for the team who have spent more time worrying about retirements than they have about points of late. Magnussen said it was days like Saturday that put a smile on his face.

“It was what we had hoped for, right? We’ve seen before in Imola that we like these conditions and we got the job done today,” he said to reporters after qualifying.

“It was all about continuously always put[ting in] a better lap because the track was getting better and better but then so you have to push all the time and it’s very enjoyable in these conditions.

“Days like this is what makes you happy and what really makes you smile, but there’s no points today so it’s just a bit of reason to smile and nothing else. It’s a good starting position for tomorrow and that’s when we go to do the job.”

While others were struggling to find the thin stretch of drying track, Schumacher found that he had grip everywhere and, like Magnussen, was impressed with the car’s ability in wet conditions.

The checkered flag falls on Q3 – we’re only P5 and P6! 🥹😝😁😆😍

P5 MAG ⏱ 1:22.960
P6 MSC ⏱ 1:23.356#HaasF1 #CanadianGP #Quali pic.twitter.com/DGXAuEC4cK

— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) June 18, 2022

“I found grip everywhere I put the car which obviously is what I wanted,” he said. “Unfortunately that last set of tyres, I had to slow down because of Carlos [Sainz] and then my tyres had cooled down a bit which, which didn’t help Turn 1 then the mess kind of started.

“It wasn’t great, but up till then, very, very happy and it’s something that I can build on and something that I can grow.”

Schumacher also remarked that he believed wet conditions allowed drivers to show what they can really do behind the wheel.

“I always loved racing in the wet conditions, going quick and trying to find the limit. I think especially in qualifying, like this and at a track like this, there’s big potential for drivers showing what they…