The Haas F1 Team was fast throughout the entire Australian Grand Prix Weekend. The two Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean qualified in the sixth and seventh positions respectively. The fifth place qualifying Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo was penalized three starting grid positions for failure to slow down during a red flag in practice. This penalty for Riccardo moved both Haas cars up a spot and allowed the team to lock up the third row, the best starting positions for the team ever.
Magnussen had a fantastic start to the race and beat the fourth place Red Bull of Max Verstappen into turn 1 and immediately assumed P4. And by the end of the first two turns the Haas cars were in Positions 4 and 6. The Red Bull of Verstappen was sandwiched between the two Haas cars in P5 when during lap 10 the Red Bull spun out and Grosjean moved up into P5. The two Haas cars were running 4th and 5th by lap 11.
The spin by Verstappen put him back to P8 with Hulkenberg in his Renault in P7, Riccardo’s Red Bull P6, Grosjean’s Haas in P5 and his teammate Kevin Magnussen in P4. The 2018 season was off to a fantastic start for the third year American outfit until…
It was lap 23 when disaster first struck. Magnussen was the first to pit for Haas and returned to the running in P11 when he was forced to take his VF-18 onto the side of the track and retire the car. The left rear wheel of Magnussen’s car did not lock into position properly and the wheel not fouled. The Number 20 car of Kevin Magnussen was forced to retire with a loose wheel nut.
Then it was lap 25 when it happened again, Romain Grosjean was forced to retire with a loose left rear tire after his pit stop. Within three minutes time both Haas F1 Team cars were out of the Australian Grand Prix.
This result was a bitter pill to swallow for Haas F1 Fans. The team was vying for a potential podium and within a three-minute period the race was over for both cars. A 4th and 5th place finish would have rewarded the team 12 and 10 points; 22 points total. This is nearly half of the entire 2017 season points total of 49. But at the end of the day they earned zero points.
Expectations for the Haas team were high after the strong lap times in practice. But no one expected them to be the number four team, and leading the likes of McLaren, Renault, Williams or Force India, but they have. The team has improved their car, and they appear to have outpaced their nearest competitors. But the challenge which Haas faces is their capacity as a team. They have designed a car which can compete near the front. But they are still a small team with a single financier. The team lacked the capacity to expand to their new performance level, and the pit stop performances proved to be their weakest link.
Perhaps it is a cliché but, something had to give. Being a small team they lack the capacity to grow too quickly, and pit crew training suffered. The entire wheel must first be squarely mounted on the hub before the single wheel nut is tightened by the gunner. The case with both Haas cars was that the wheel was not squarely mounted on the hub before being tightened. Even with the wheel ajar, the wheel nut locked and there was no threat of either of the two mis-mounted wheels coming off. But both instances represent a unnsafe release of the car and we can expect penalties for the team. One thing we can be sure of, the Haas pit teams will be working on their pit stop training.
This picture of Romain Grosjean by @H_DeFormula was the take away image for the race.
To see Grosjean consulting a team member after the pit failure spoke volumes about Grosjean and the culture within the team. Grosjean knows that he will need that guy, and everyone else on the team, if he, Grosjean is to be successful. It was an endearing image and provided a silver lining of sorts. This is a fast team that made two crucial mistakes on their first pit stops. And Grosjean has already moved on.
For the Haas F1 Fans… we are disappointed. But we are also optimistic. The Haas cars are fast and this team is going to have a very competitive year. Competitors at McLaren and Renault have questioned the designs legality of the Haas car, calling it a “Baby Ferrari”. The situation was reviewed by F1 stewards. Those accusations were thrown out, and proved that the 2018 Haas F1 VF-18 Challenger is just very fast. We are in store for a great season…
Let’s call the Australian Grand Prix the Mulligan for the 2018 season. If they can maintain this performance throughout the year we can expect my double points races and perhaps the first Haas podium. Bring on Bahrain!!!