2019 was cat-Haas-trophe for the American outfit but can the new decade bring improved fortunes?
(If I really, REALLY try I may be able to put Will Buxton out of a job…)
But that’s not what we’re here for; slightly earlier than planned Haas unveiled their revised look for 2020. I’m not complaining, the treacherously long F1 off-season has finally come to a triumphant end and Haas will hope that with it comes an end to the dog of a car that was the VF-19.
As Formula 1’s newest team there’s nothing they’d love more than consistency from season to season while slowing gnawing away at F1’s elite. This is something that Haas haven’t been quite able to tie down like they do a certain Frenchman, but more on that later.
2016 built a very solid start for a newly founded team. Support from Ferrari or not, they executed races, especially in pressure conditions, like a team with several seasons under their belt. While performances didn’t maintain the high standards set at the start of the season, this was always to be expected considering the low numbers of staff and funding they had at their disposal. This was always going to leave a hangover the following season where despite another 8th placed finish, they couldn’t make inroads towards the top end of the midfield. But like a student realising they had a lecture the next day (write about what you’re familiar with I guess) they popped a couple Beroccas down them and produced a monster of a car for 2018, which they were unfortunate not to make 4th place in the Constructors’ with, picking up a very respectable 4th place in Austria in the process. Come 2019 then, and big things were expected from America’s plucky outfit.
I don’t know what was worse; Rich Energy’s attempts at being a legitimate title partner, or the VF-19’s woeful race pace. If you were a Haas fan I honestly don’t know how you coped. You’d think the race was bad enough but then at the end of it you’d get some bearded buffoon spurting anti Red Bull gibberish on Twitter. It was sometimes more entertaining than the race itself! What’s that? The French GP a let-down again? Oh well, grab the popcorn kids we’ve got Rich Energy tweets to look forward to! I mean we could, in fact we are feeding their PR machine here, but admittedly I did enjoy their fall, especially considering Haas didn’t suffer financially in the end. What’s the phrase? All publicity is good publicity.
Well if there’s ever a man in Formula 1 who is living on borrowed time it’s Romain Grosjean. If I’m not mistaken I slated him in last year’s preview and even threw in Wehrlein to replace him for 2020. Magnussen gave another stellar season, convincingly outscoring and outqualifying the Frenchman. In spite of this, Grosjean did prove his worth in helping to feedback about what was wrong with the VF-19 and why they couldn’t develop it. Other than that, he was beaten soundly by Magnussen; a half a second average qualifying delta for starters! If Haas return to form in 2020, Grosjean really needs to consistently put the pressure back on his Danish teammate. In some ways, he’s lucky there’s no ready prepared driver in the Ferrari stable that could feasibly take his seat. Even Wehrlein looks to have left F1 fully behind him now, I know Mahrindra aren’t the team they used to be in Formula E, but he hasn’t set that Formula alight like we might’ve thought – look at Vandoorne for example.
I do expect Magnussen to prevail again this year, but it would be nice for Grosjean to remove just some of the doubters on his back. What happened to 2013-2016 Romain? Remember when he was tipped to replace Kimi at Ferrari? Seems eons ago now.
I predicted a 5th or 6th placed finish for Haas last year. Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn’t it?! I mean maybe a slight drop off in relative performance could’ve been predicted considering the titanic battle between themselves and Renault the year before so they possibly could’ve put extra resources into beating Renault, and who would’ve blamed them? It’s just a shame that they can’t seem to find consistent growth.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Haas in 2020, they’ll have a few things working in their favour. The regulations are stable for 2020, so they can take huge lessons from 2019 and implement them for this season’s challenger. The tyres have also remained the same spec, so there’s less chance of them pulling a 2019. Plus if history’s to be judged, a duff Haas season is followed by a highly competitive one. I certainly wouldn’t predict them to finish 9th this season. How highly they finish? Well that depends on consistency.
George Talks 