British Grand Prix qualifying: A ‘sketchy’ decision pays off for Nico Hülkenberg and Haas british,grand,prix,qualifying,a,sketchy,decision,pays,off,for,nico,h,lkenberg,and,haas,sbnation,com,front-page


As the minutes ticked down in the first qualifying segment at the British Grand Prix, 19 of the 20 drivers wound their way around historic Silverstone circuit in wet conditions, relying on the green intermediate tires.

Nico Hülkenberg was that 20th driver, who remained in the garage waiting for the track to dry out, and the right moment to join the fight.

Hülkenberg had to wait through a red flag, brought out by Sergio Pérez. The Red Bull driver was one of the first to switch to the slicks, with just over seven minutes remaining in the session, but quickly paid a steep price. Pérez slid into the gravel and could not get moving again, ending his session early.

Ultimately, Hülkenberg had just one shot at a flying lap and he made it stick, doing just enough to get into Q2.

But when the dust settled and the checkered flag flew at the end of Q3 Hülkenberg was up in sixth on the timing sheets, and he will start on the third row in Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

That stands as not just the best qualifying result for Hülkenberg this season, but for the team as well.

However, the approach taken by Haas made for some nervy moments for both the driver and the team.

“I managed to take the momentum from last race into this week, plus I think the updates we brought to the car yesterday really had an impact and I felt a gain with them straightaway,” said Hülkenberg in the team’s post-qualifying report. “That’s good news and it’s not always the case, so a big well done to the team. Quali was good; Q1 was a bit too close for comfort with only one lap.

“With the red flag, we got a little out of sync and maybe it was a bit sketchy, but otherwise it was a good, clean session. I feel good confidence in the car which means I can produce the laps, even if it’s just one.”

Team Principal Ayao Komatsu hailed an “amazing” result for the team, but outlined how Haas needs to review their “tricky” approach.

“It’s been a pretty eventful day with pretty tricky conditions, but in FP3 I think we made progress learning about car behavior on the intermediates. In Q1 we decided not to run on the inters because we expected it to be dry, so that’s what we did,” described Komatsu. “It was very tricky, we need to review what we did and how we can do it better because we just got through with Nico. Kevin didn’t get through Q1 because he went off but with Nico, we didn’t give ourselves enough margin, so that’s something we need to improve.”

Komatsu outlined how it could have been even better for Hülkenberg.

“Moving into dry conditions with Nico, what a fantastic result with P6, and that could’ve been better. He made a mistake on his flying lap in one of the corners so it’s really pleasing with all the hard work from the team getting this upgrade on and it paying off well,” added the Haas boss. “It’s an excellent position to start tomorrow, so we’ll see what we can do, but for now, I’m happy for the team – amazing work from everyone.”

While Kevin Magnussen failed to advance out of Q1 and will start at the back of the field, Hülkenberg’s starting position gives Haas a tremendous chance to bring home solid points on Sunday. The team enters the British Grand Prix sitting seventh in the Formula 1 Constructors’ standings, 11 points behind Visa Cash App RB F1 Team.

But with both Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda starting outside the points — and behind Hülkenberg — Haas is in position to cut into that lead Sunday.

Despite a “sketcky” Saturday.

Travelers: Will Zalatoris’ “all-day grind session” pays off travelers,will,zalatoris,all,day,grind,session,pays,off,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

Travelers Will Zalatoris all day grind session pays off travelerswillzalatorisalldaygrindsessionpaysoffsbnationcomgolfgolf pga tourgolf news


CROMWELL, Conn. — Will Zalatoris looked lost at Pinehurst No. 2, which explains why he missed the cut at the U.S. Open.

But instead of dwelling on his poor play, Zalatoris flew directly from North Carolina to Connecticut to get extra practice ahead of the Travelers Championship. The move has paid off to this point, as Zalatoris shot an impressive 6-under 64 on day one—his lowest round of the season. He now trails leader Tom Kim by two.

“I got out here Saturday night, and then Sunday, I had an all-day grind session to try to figure out what was going on,” Zalatoris explained.

“I got into some bad habits, figured out what I needed to fix, and just dug it out of the dirt. It’s kind of nice to be able to do that.”

Zalatoris missed most of the 2023 season after hurting his back on the driving range at Augusta National, only minutes before the first round of the Masters began. He subsequently missed eight months, returning at the Hero World Challenge in December. The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon then had an up-and-down start to the year, but finally put his game together at the Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, tying for second and fourth, respectively.

But he only has one top-10 since then: a tie for ninth at the Masters.

“Early on this season, I would play a tournament, need to take three, four days off, and now I’m able to just keep on going,” Zalatoris said.

Will Zalatoris during the second round of the 2024 U.S. Open.
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

“So even though it’s nice and warm, that obviously helps with the back, but I think it’s just trying to find the right cadence of when I’m taking time off, and so far this stretch is the best I’ve felt.”

Now, Zalatoris can hit 300 to 400 balls daily, which helps when you need to find your swing. But he would have issues contending and improving if his back restricted him from doing that. Thankfully for him, those ailments are a thing of the past for now.

“The further I get from the surgeries that I had last year, the more comfortable I’m feeling with my back, the quicker I’m recovering, the better I’m feeling,” Zalatoris said.

“As the year goes on, even though my results haven’t shown it, I felt a lot better; I just got into some bad habits and thought it was just a nice reset after the U.S. Open. I love majors; it’s always been a career goal of mine to win one. I hated how I played, and sometimes you just have to dig it out of the dirt.”

Perhaps his grind sessions will pave the way for a victory this week at the Travelers Championship. Or maybe it will serve as a harbinger of things to come at Royal Troon.

Who knows? Regardless of what happens, seeing Zalatoris back on tour—and being able to grind his way through bad habits—is something everyone loves to see.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.