Month: April 2016

2016 Russian Grand Prix – Bring on Sochi

So here we are, the 4th race of the year. And only the 4th race for the Haas F1 Team.

Romain Grosjean stated after China that the team starts every race with a blank page. It’s nearly impossible to set our expectations for the race.

That said, we are beginning to learn some things about the Haas F1 Team. So far they have had relatively few technical issues. The wreck with Alonso in Australia and a brake-by-wire issue for Gutierrez in Bahrain have accounted for all of the DNF’s so far this year. Reliability has been better than Ferrari’s. I have had the benefit of seeing the first two practice in Sochi before writing this. Ferrari is forced to replace Vettel’s gear box. The Ferrari will take a 5 place grid penalty for the race.

But for Haas, things have been somewhat uneventful. Grosjean’s nose wing was destroyed in turn 1 of the Chinese Grand Prix, and he was forced to run with that newly designed wing. As we now know, that wing was causing too much drag and delegated Grosjean to a 19th position finish. The team has benefited from the high attrition rates for the first two races. But every team completed the Chinese Grand Prix, and Haas was not in the points (top 10)

After the practice session earlier today we’ve learned that the Haas cars are still down on speed. Gutierrez finished practice in 16th place while Grosjean finished 17th. It seems that Haas is settling mid-pack, behind AMG Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Williams and Toro Rosso. Grosjean’s early results have proven that the car can run, but the team had some help with high attrition rates in the first two races. And as Haas improves each week, so do their competitors.

We are not expecting a podium, or anything silly like that yet… Success for Has this weekend will be; both cars advance into the second qualifying round, Q2, and both cars completing the race. I’d like to think a Haas car can make it to Q3, but that would take a twist of fate, or a bit of luck based on their pace in practice. But reliability is also the other benchmark the team is working to establish. If both cars complete the Russian Grand Prix, the weekend will a success. An advance into Q3 by a Haas car will exceed expectations

Tyre strategy could come into play. But I’ll leave that topic for a pre-race journal entry. I’ll keep this short… looking forward to qualifying tomorrow.

2016 Chinese Grand Prix – Race Review

The Chinese Grand Prix for the Haas boys, Grosjean and Gutierrez,  was basically uneventful. Which means it was a 100% success!

14th and 19th final positions are nothing to write home about, or even consider good. But it’s OK. The primary goal was to finish the race, that box gets a big check mark. The second, at least my second, tick mark was for Grosjean to be in points. He was not, in fact he finished in that 19th position. But it’s OK!

Gutierrez needed a successful race and he got it. He also had the experience of beating his teammate, without it hurting Grosjean’s ego. Romain can write off his drive to development.

Grosjean’s slow pace was attributed to the new nose. He got caught up in the turn 1 race start tango, his front nose got damaged and he had to run the newly designed nose.

Can a nose have that much of an effect on the overall lap time, causing such a performance hit? I mentioned in my pre-race entry that the long straight, .72 miles, will exaggerate any excessive downforce in time, disproportionately. And I believe that is what we’ve seen.

You learn as much about aerodynamics, perhaps even more, by what does not work sometimes. Since I was a kid I’ve designed, built and flown model planes. It was my failed wing designs which better helped demonstrated Bernoulli’s principal, not my successes. Note* Success in model aviation is a relative term. Any success in model aviation is eventually met by total devastation; pilot error is even more constant than the laws of physics 🙂 Anyhow…

In the grand scheme of The Haas F1 Team, we have every reason for optimism. So let me focus on the pessimism. I need a bounce back race. It does not have to be an 6th place finish, but an 8th place finish in Sochi would validate the performance of the first two races.

On the optimistic side… we know we have a good car. Romain Grosjean said it’s the best car he’s ever driven. We know we have a reliable car. Pit stops are in the 3-3.5 second range. That is a good thing.

I was really hoping to see if the Haas car could run with the Williams under high speeds.  I’m not sure I would call Sochi a high speed track, but the turn 2-3-4 sequence is about as opposite from China’s Shanghai circuit as possible.

The long wrap around counter clockwise half oval provides opportunities for passing. But as we saw last year, bringing too much speed into turn 4 can effect the exit speed. The turns 5-6-7-8 sequence will be hard on hard off in sequence in the box like turning, and a poor exit from turn 4 can can push mistakes during that sequence… let’s see if Max Verstappen picks up a position or two in that turn 4-8 section.

The track seems to favor Haas. I’m assuming that they will have the front wing worked out. The car is already mid-pack fast. Grosjean again will shine, and Gutierrez will also impress.

I am late with my report, and I think everyone moved on from China real quick. I wrote most of this early in the week but got lazy. My apologies!!!

See ya’ll in Russia!

2016 Chinese Grand Prix – We Go Green in 3 Hours

So the Haas boys, Grosjean and Gutierrez have qualified 14 and 18 respectively.

Qualifying position is not that important to me right now, not do i think the team cares too much. The drivers do… and they should. so all is right with the Haas F1 world.

The next goal is to have both cars through turn 6 unskaved and picking up the positions for the cars that are… skaved! The turn 1-2-3-4 combination is like a combination cork screw/ meat grinder, it is forced down into turn 5, which is more of a bottleneck than a turn and into 6. Position and exit speed at turn 6 could be the setup until either the first caution or cycle of pit stops.

I think Daniel Riccardo is the one to watch. I picked him in my pre-quali blog that he will be fast, and he is. But i think we are starting to see an 800 pound gorilla in the room. I don’t have evidence to support my claim without doing some research, but… I think Danny Kvyat is underperforming. His result will give us a baseline of where he will be in regard to his team-mate.

I am detecting a sub-plot within the Haas team. Previously I questioned weather Gutierrez got the prototype car, which might explain the mechanical issues. The term “bad luck” has been used in regard to his two DNF’s. But Esteban seems very insistent on disclaiming that term. When interviewed by Will Buxton during the China GP weekend Gutierrez was persistent to identify specific causes for every technical problem. He seemed uncomfortable with any attribution of luck to his results. It is difficult for many to understand why he would care about these remarks. But it is very important that he control his psyche.

When an F1 driver is on the track in the heat of battle for championship points, luck does not enter the focus. Like a fighter pilot, he is strapped into a machine that needs to respond predictably and instinctively. It is the mental preparation of work and discipline that prepares the driver to jump into a mental tunnel at 200 mph. At no point in any of that process does luck enter into it.

If the mechanical and electrical issues on the #21 car are resolved, and if the car finishes the race,  I expect Gutierrez to perform well. My overall expectations are somewhat tempered. I want to say that I think Romain Grosjean will finish in the top 5 or 6 as before. But I cannot. The Mercedes powered force India’s and Williams tool very strong. Grosjean is starting in the 14th position, so he will have to find a way to move up. He seems to have the race pace to perform, but a better qualifying position should also be expected.

So, if Grosjean can finish with in points, and Gutierrez can just finish, I’ll be happy. And I suspect the teams expectations to be about the same. The team is fighting to develop their car. We’ve seen improvements in the front wing already. 14th and 18th are not very strong qualifying positions.  Grosjean/Gutierrez  qualified 19/20 for Australia and 9/13 in Bahrain. The new qualifying format did not seem to indicate or impact their race performance.  And like I said, I’m not too concerned with their current qualifying position. They seem to out perform their expectations. Clearly the Haas F1 team is one of the most prepared rookie teams to take up an F1 livery. Preparation cannot make a car faster than it really is. Will power and wishful thinking won’t work either.

If ever there is a place to attribute luck in F1, it is when you gain a race position due to a competitors mechanical failure. A timely pit stop under caution like in Australia can also be partially attributed to luck. But luck is something which you cannot control or plan on. My favorite quote regarding luck comes from the actor James Earl Jones… “The harder I work the luckier I get”

Again, my expectations for the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix are realistic… a race finish for Guiterrez and a top 10 for Grosjean and I’ll be dancing. But now knowing what we know about how Haas has built his team, it will be hard to temper excitement. But for now… a 2 hour nap before the 2 AM Kannapolis race start time is worth a try!

It’s gonna be awesome!

Richie OUT!

 

2016 Chinese Grand Prix – Qualifying is Next!

So here we are, the 2016 Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix… it is Friday night on the East Coast US.  At midnight we get the hour long FP3. Qualifying goes off at 3:00 AM. The sleep cycle during race weekends in Asia can be challenging.  But with our own team, Haas F1 Team, sleep almost becomes optional.

After the first two practice sessions the Haas F1 has again had gremlins on Esteban Gutierrez’s side of the garage. His car returned to the garage with his rear brakes in flames. There was an electrical issue with this brakes; something about brake bias. Who knows. Again it is the #8 car with issues. It has got to be wearing on Esteban’s confidence. I was wondering if Grosjean got car #2 and Esteban got the prototype? With this being the first season for the team, all they have is their prototype plus 1 car. Or are they not running the prototype? Ah but if I only had access; these are the questions I’d ask.

Early Expectations: My expectation is that both cars will make it into Q2. I am going to assume that both cars will be running fine for the full qualifying session. But we have not had the third full practice yet. Gutierrez needs to get as many laps under his belt as possible. I still don’t think he’s has the the time yet to fully set his bench mark. If the car is running well and has no mechanical or electrical issues, is not hit from behind, or the car does not melt in the rain… A top 10 finish is not completely unreasonable to predict. A top 15 finish is probably more realistic. But again, we have no real bench mark on Esteban Gutierrez, and an opportune caution or mechanical attrition, and he could surprise us all. My jury is still out on Esteban, but I’ve seen no reason to expect anything than great results. But I do need more.

Romain Grosjean will be limited only by his car. Any rain conditions during qualifying or the race will be an advantage to Grosjean. His driving performance during the first two races have been just stellar. He’s got the skill, talent and aptitude Gene Haas needs. Not only is Grosjean helping with the development of the car, but he has the wherewithal to compete towards the front with confidence. A new car at the front is one thing, but having a driver who feels he belongs there is another. Again, I believe that no other driver would have achieved more in that Haas seat than Grosjean.

So, Grosjean. It all depends on how fast his car is. The williams cars have traditionally demonstrated very good top end speed on the long straights. And China has the longest straight in Formula 1 at 1170 meters/3838 feet. That is over .7 of a mile and a lot of ground to cover. But with DRS, tire strategies, a divine wind and a handshake, perhaps those Haas cars can excel in the long straights. We really don’t know. But surely the team is on top of the situation. That new front nose has some really special science going on and the car will be fast without a loss in downforce… it’s really special science.

In Bahrain the Haas outfit seemed to have the pace to keep the competition at bay. But I must admit… I have a huge fear about this race. The first 4 turns happen real fast, and they are going fast into turns 5 and 6. A mid-pack shatter session seems almost unavoidable as the entro to turn 1 gyrates 270 degrees, then gyrates 270 degrees again, exiting out of turn 4. That many cars trying to squeze through that nasty section can only mean trouble, and it is most important for both Haas cars to exit turn 6 unskathed. The aggressiveness and immaturity of 1 driver is all it takes to ruin your entire effort. And yes I am refering to Max Verstappen, or as named him last year “Max Vernotstoppin”.

For the Haas team, the narrative continues. They are still a new team. Play it conservative. Completing the race with both cars is the first goal. It is reasonable to expect points. If we can bring both cars home, we can overtake Williams for 4th place in the constructors championship. Williams 20 points leads Haas by only 2. give me two healthy Haas cars out of turn 6 on the first lap of the race and we’re on our way!

2 hours till FP3, 5 hours until qualifying!

Go Haas!

 

2016 Bahrain Grand Prix

The Haas F1 Team and Romain Grosjean finish an incredible 5th place in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Expectations for the team were still measured by the teams skeptics after Grosjean’s 6th place in Australia was partially attributed to a timely pit under yellow flag caution conditions.

The team performed as expected in qualifying for Bahrain. Bringing both cars into Q2 for qualifying on a consistent basis will demonstrate a capacity for consistency, reliability and a true competitive benchmark. But it was the overall competitiveness of the car and the race strategy which provided Grosjean the horses to run towards the front of the pack all day. The Haas race strategy was aggressive. They pushed on super soft tires for as long as they could before switching to the required change to in this case, softs. Like Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean has demonstrated the distinct ability to be gentle on tires when he needs to. Somehow he managed to push aggressively on the super softs without loosing grip or pace.

Because of Grosjean’s “timely pit under caution” in Australia the first race pit stop for the Haas F1 Team occured in Bahrain; 3.2 seconds. That is a fantastic time and clearly attributed to the fifth place finish. Gene Haas seems to have a sense of discipline among his teams culture. So far everything Haas as done can be described as precise. Precision is the business that Gene Haas is in. CNC machines are perhaps the single most concrete example of manifested precision and is central to any form of precision manufacturing.  Elon Musk may run Space-X and be the check writer, but he’s not designing anything. But Haas manifests real-world precision in the first person. And by the end of the 2016 season the Haas Crew chief will have the pit crew performing to Maranello standards. No doubt!

Esteban Gutiérrez met early disappointment with brake issues in lap 47, I think 10 laps into the race. Following the harrowing crash with Alonso in Australia, we know Esteban had higher hopes for Bahrain. But that ugly gremlin stick got a good look at his car. I cannot say that the gremlin stick jumped into Esteban Gutiérrez’s car, clearly that distinction belongs to Vettel’s Ferrari. Gutiérrez had to retire due to a brake issue. But I am not at all disappointed in him or the car. He is seeing the rash side of the team luck, but consider it his role as the #2, and fate is accommodating. I have high expectations for Gutiérrez in China.

But my optimism for the team cannot be under stated. Every team holds their breath at the start of every Formula 1 season. Cars do not generally improve too much over the course of a season. If the car is not fast at the start of the season, chances are you’re not moving up. Well the Haas car is fast. In only their second race they’ve moved up. Yes we must temper our enthusiasm… oh wait, no we don’t! This statement from Romain Grosjean psyches me up to no end…

“This is the American dream,” said Grosjean. “It is unbelievable. I said we had to manage our expectations after we finished sixth in Australia, but here we finished fifth. There’s still a lot of things we can do better, from pit stops to the setup of the car and so on but, for now, this one is for the guys. I looked at their faces last night and they were all very tired because of the amount of work we’re doing. This is a massive reward. Really, just unbelievable. In the race, I had a good feeling in the car. It was an aggressive strategy, but managing tires has always been my strength in the past. Knowing we had a softer compound for this racetrack was something I liked. The car was set up well for the supersoft tires and I had a fantastic race. The car has a very good baseline. Everything is working well. I don’t think I’ve ever been as high as fifth in the driver standings. This is the first time in my career, I can’t believe it.”

Romain Grosjean leads Sebastian Vettel in the Formula 1 drivers championship! Of the 23 drivers on the F1 grid, Grosjean is currently in 5th place. The Haas F1 Team is also in 5th place among the 11 constructors, behind Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams; making Haas the current leader of the mid-pack teams. I’ll take it!

On to China! It will be difficult to temper expectations. But Esteban Gutiérrez has not yet completed a race. Once Haas reliability improves Williams will be nervous!