With the greatest of optimism… the Haas F1 Team laid a big egg……
With Romain Grosjean retire after lap 11, out hopes were on the shoulders of Kevin Magnussen. Those hopes were dashed around lap 40 when he was out of the race due to a suspension failure. Two DNF’s in the first race and after Grosjean had his best qualifying performance since joining Haas.
I first thought Grosjean’s Haas VF17 blew and engine… ka-blamo. But it was in fact a leak in the cooling system… Romain was blowing steam, not oil. But he was out. Magnussen on the other hand is a bit more complicated. He had a first lap contact which was later blamed for his retirement and the suspension failure. word has it that he only had a flat tire and that his suspension was good and he could have rejoined the race. But he didn’t. We’re past that now…..
I was not overly blown away by Magnussen’s performance in Australia. His times consistently lagged Grosjean all weekend. But his orders are to bring the car home.
On to China… The Haas team did well among their mid-pack rivals. Let’s see if that advantage can continue. My hope is that they have a whole myriad of improvements to roll out for the next race.
See you in China