How good could Haas actually be?
- Richard Baxter
- Feb 8, 2019
- 4 min read
Haas are the first F1 team to give us a glimpse of their 2019 car, but can they truly accomplish their ambitions.
Their car has been released in a black and gold livery - similar to the old Lotus cars from the 70’s and 80’s - which has been created through their new collaboration with Rich Energy.
There’s no denying they are aiming for big things this season, as William Storey, the entrepreneur and developer of the energy drink said in an interview “we’re looking forward to taking on Red Bull, both on and off the track”. This is a big aim for a team who are only entering their fourth year in the sport, but is it actually possible? Well from what I can see there’s a lot of things riding on it.
Firstly, will the car actually be any good? Looking at their short history in the sport they have improved each season.
In 2016, their first season they scored 29 points, which is a decent haul for a brand new team.
In 2017 they were just 11 points short of doubling their previous tally and collected 47 points.
However last season, in 2018 they really impressed; they finished fifth in the Constructors Championship and were again very close to doubling the previous seasons points. They scored 93 points, just 1 point from exactly doubling it.
If they were to repeat history in 2019 and again approximately double their points then they would be looking at around 186 points.
In 2018 Haas finishing fifth in the Constructors resulted in them being beaten only by Renault (122 points), Red Bull (419 points), Ferrari (571 points) and Mercedes (655 points). So in theory 186 points would be good enough for fourth place.
So again, in theory they wouldn’t really be competing with Red Bull, it would appear that fighting to be the “best of the rest” would be a better target.
However it is not quite that simple. Red Bull have changed engine providers and will be using the Honda engines, and there is still some doubt as to whether they have entirely solved the problems they’ve experienced during their return to F1. If they haven’t and Red Bull has a tough season then Haas, with a lot of hard work could well be breathing down their necks.
The big question for Haas though, and the next factor that it’s riding on, is have they improved in areas that cost them last season? In the first 2018 race in Australia they were running just outside the top 3 and looking good, but mistakes at both drivers’ pit stops resulted in a double DNF and missing out on crucial points due to their own errors.
Similarly, later in the season they were disqualified from another good points finish after a protest from Renault relating to the floor of their car. Basically Haas didn’t have the new floor in time so had to run with an ‘illegal’ one. Whether this was a manufacturing error or transportation error I don’t know, but ultimately this again cost them important points.
They will really need to iron out these errors as a team to ultimately have a decent chance of competing with the top teams.
Next, after the team it really comes down to the drivers as well. Grosjean and Magnussen remain with the team for what will be a third consecutive season. It is really time for them to step and show how good they are. Personally I like both drivers and think they are good, but they both need to cut out the individual errors and start pulling in some big results to stand a chance.
Last season Magnussen finished ninth in the drivers championship with 56 points, whilst Grosjean finished fourteenth with 37 points.
Neither of them are new to the grid any more, and in all honesty they haven’t done too much to really make themselves stand out.
Grosjean had a tough first half of the season and it seemed almost every race he would make an error and crash or collide with someone or something. Magnussen also had his moments with other drivers. He is known to be a hard racer, but at times cost himself and damaged his car through late changes of direction to defend position.
Neither driver you would really class in the same bracket of Verstappen, Hamilton or Vettel. They are going to need to step up and try to achieve some podium finishes to really show Haas how good they are. Otherwise it is possible Haas could try to sign another driver, especially with the likes of Ocon on the sidelines.
If they all pull together and improve their performance all around then I truly think, despite how tough it will be, it is possible that they could challenge Red Bull.
Time will only tell, and it is just another factor to what I believe is going to pan out to be an incredible season.
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