Kevin Magnussen unimpressed with ‘pretty annoying’ track limits

Losing a lap time during qualifying at the Red Bull Ring, Kevin Magnussen says the policing of the white lines is “pretty annoying”.

Magnussen was one of several drivers to have a lap time delete during Friday afternoon’s qualifying for the Austrian GP sprint race.

But while Sergio Perez found himself relegated from fourth to 13th after qualifying, Magnussen’s infringement was noted at the time and he lost the lap time immediately.

He bounced back to qualifying seventh, the Dane set to start P6 after Perez’s demotion.

“It is pretty annoying because it is never great when the cars can naturally run wider than you are allowed to,” he said.

“It is nice when lap time is naturally lost when you go over track limits because that is much more real.

“The last corner, you have this big kerb. If you go on that, you lose time so that could easily be the natural limit but this is how the FIA has chosen to go ahead.

“It is pretty annoying as a driver.”

Following the deletion of Perez’s qualifying lap times in Q3, K-Mag and Mick have both been promoted one spot up the starting grid.

P6 for MAG, P7 for MSC 🥳#HaasF1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/kX3XtoCIVO

— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) July 8, 2022

Lining up in sixth place at the Red Bull Ring, Magnussen is one place ahead of his team-mate Mick Schumacher in what was Haas’ best qualifying session of the season.

Following on from the team’s double points-haul at the British Grand Prix, the 29-year-old reckons he has the car, and the grid slot, needed to add to his tally.

Last season only the top three in the sprint races scored points, this year there are points for the top eight, with eight points for first and then a point fewer for each place further behind.

“I was confident,” he said. “The car has been great. In FP1 when we put the car on track and it looked strong,

“Then in qualifying, I got a lap deleted and it was a bit messy so I am happy I got that lap in at the end. I lost three-tenths in the first sector because the tyres were really cold.

“I wish I had that second set for Q3 because then with a new set I am sure P6 or P5 would have been within reach.

“We are starting in the top eight in P7 so there are points for the top eight so hopefully we can get a point or two and a good starting position for Sunday.”