Haas ace Kevin Magnussen saw something ‘crazy’ relating to Red Bull during practice for the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Formula 1 got settled at Imola this Friday.
F1 has returned to Imola for the first time in two years after cancelling the 2023 meet due to flooding in the region. Max Verstappen won the last Emilia Romagna GP in 2022 with a one-two for Red Bull beside Sergio Perez. But the Milton Keynes team are off the pace this week.
Ferrari star Charles Leclerc set the pace in first and second practice at the Scuderia’s home event. Imola is only 50 miles from Maranello and saw the Prancing Horse stride to first place on Friday. Leclerc topped the timesheet for FP1 with a 1:16.990 and for FP2 with a 1:15.906.
Kevin Magnussen finds Haas’ deficit to Red Bull at the Emilia Romagna GP ‘crazy’
Leclerc was the only driver to dip into the 1:16s in FP1 and was even the only one to dip into the 1:15s in FP2. Meanwhile, Verstappen and Perez would only manage P7 and P8 in second practice for the Emilia Romagna GP. The Red Bull pilots were 0.541s and 0.646s off the pace.
Verstappen’s personal-best time was also only 0.379 seconds faster than Nico Hulkenberg and 0.682s quicker than Magnussen managed for Haas in FP2. Yet the American squad were ninth and 17th on the timesheet. Logan Sargeant posted the slowest lap in FP2 at 1:17.848.
READ MORE: 5 unforgettable Emilia Romagna GP moments, with Bottas and Russell’s crash
Magnussen finds it ‘crazy’ how close the midfield is at the Emilia Romagna GP to be so close to Verstappen. The Haas star also did not do first practice, as Oliver Bearman had the first of his six FP1s this year. Verstappen completed 21 laps in FP1 and 23 in FP2 to Magnussen’s 32.
“It’s super tight here, even tighter than usual. The midfield is crazy,” Magnussen laughed, via quotes by Motorsport-Total. “I’m three or four-tenths behind Red Bull and am in P17, which shows how close it is. With every lap, you find more and more time.”
Kevin Magnussen will hope to ‘find more and more time’ to reel in Nico Hulkenberg
Magnussen will hope to find more time with each lap in FP3 ahead of qualifying at Imola on Saturday. Hulkenberg has out-qualified the 31-year-old at four of the first six Grand Prix this season. The Dane only led Haas’ qualifying at the Saudi Arabian GP and Australian GP so far.
READ MORE: The most successful drivers at the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna GP of all time
Hulkenberg has also finished ahead of Magnussen in five of the six Grand Prix to kick off his season. The 36-year-old, who will leave Haas at the end of this year after signing with Audi to race for Sauber in 2025, has only finished behind his teammate in the Bahrain GP so far.
Magnussen enjoyed his only finish in front of Hulkenberg at the season-opener with a P12 finish to the German’s P16. Contact with Aston Martin pilot Lance Stroll at Turn 1 on Lap 1 also complicated Hulkenberg’s race as Haas had to pit the German to get a new front wing.
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