Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team Shocks Field with Brazilian Grand Prix Pole

Kevin Magnussen delivered his and Haas’ first career Formula 1 pole position in a shocking outcome to F1 qualifying at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.

In a sensational conclusion to a rain-affected session at Interlago0, Magnussen and Haas delivered one of the stories of the year and prompted wild celebrations in the garage when the clock ran out.

Magnussen made it through to Q3 at Interlagos and, due to Haas’ position at the end of the pit lane, was first out on track on slick tires as rain began to fall.

Behind him, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the only one of the top 10 runners to inexplicably gamble on Intermediate tires–anticipating heavy rain–and created a slight buffer on track to Magnussen, leaving the other eight drivers a little bit behind.

The first hot laps were always likely to be the fastest and Magnussen set a very solid benchmark of 1 minute, 11.674 seconds, while the remaining drivers behind on track were unable to beat the Dane’s lap on a greasy track. However, as drivers pushed on their second hot laps, some were still able to set personal best sector times.

Mercedes’ George Russell then slid into the gravel, causing the session to be halted, with Magnussen still provisionally fastest. When the session resumed, the rain intensified, meaning faster lap times were no longer possible.

Magnussen sat in the cockpit of his VF-22 in the garage and when it was clear that no-one was able to improve on his time the Haas garage erupted in celebration, with a delirious Magnussen leaping onto the top of his car, before embracing jubilant boss Guenther Steiner in the pit lane.

It means Magnussen will start Saturday’s 24-lap Sprint Race from top spot, on owner Gene Haas’ 70th birthday. Magnussen and Haas will be credited in the record books with pole position, regardless of where he starts Sunday’s 71-lap Grand Prix. That grid will be determined by the results of Saturday’s Sprint.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Magnussen. “The team put me out on track at exactly the right moment, we were first out in the pit lane, I did a pretty decent lap, but pole, it’s incredible. Thank you to Gene Haas, (team principal) Guenther (Steiner), the whole team for this opportunity, I got back this year after a year out and it’s just been an amazing journey.”

It is a first pole position for Magnussen in his 139th Grand Prix and for Haas in its 142th Grand Prix. Haas entered Formula 1 in 2016.

The pole comes toward the end of a redemptive season for both parties. Magnussen was only drafted back into Haas’ team on the eve of the 2022 season after the axing of Nikita Mazepin. He was previously let go by Haas at the end of 2020, following four years at the team, and feared his Formula 1 career was over.

World Champion Max Verstappen, who conceded his blew his chances with a lock-up into Turn 8 on his only hot lap, will start Sprint alongside Magnussen on the front row, with Russell third. McLaren’s Lando Norris was a superb fourth amid ongoing struggles with food poisoning.

It was a less fruitful day for Magnussen’s Haas teammate Mick Schumacher, who qualified last. Schumacher faces an uncertain future amid expectation that Nico Hulkenberg will take his seat for 2023.