2017 Formula 1 Season – Haas F1 Fan Journal

2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Post Race

Hopes for the Haas F1 Team were high going into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. With 47 points, American team was only 2 points behind the 7th place Renault Team. And Renault trailed Toro Rosso by 4 points, they had 53 points.

Neither of the two Toro Rosso or Haas cars scored points. Carlos Sainz had to retire his Lotus when on lap 32 the wheel nut was never replaced on his left front wheel after the tire was replaced. Nico Hulkenberg was in 6th place when Sainz retired, and that is where Hulkenberg finished.The 6th place finish added 6 construction points for Renault which gave them a total of 55, taking 6th place in the constructors championship from Toro Rosso.

For Haas… the 11th place finish is a reminder that we’re still working through some of our rookie problems. The rookie year may only include the first year, but they are seemingly still seeing some problems for the first time. So it takes time. But by all accounts, the Haas car is fast in a straight line. I’m also hearing on NBC that Haas has been focusing on their aero package; new designed and new engineering staff.

But hey, with 8th place, Haas F1 beat both McLaren F1 this year and Renault in 2016. But Haas needs fast and reliable power from Ferrari for 2018.

Regarding the drivers, Romain Grosjean actually scored one less point this year. In 2016, Grosjean was the only Haas driver to score any points. The top 10 race finishers score points in Formula 1. Esteban Gutierrez finished in 11th place, 5 times. Kevin Magnussen delivered 19 points for the Haas team in 2017.

The 19 points for Magnussen places him 14 in this years drivers companionship while Romain Grosjean finished 13th with his 28 points.

So that’s it. Thanksgiving weekend is over in the United States, the Formula 1 season is over, and the holidays officially begin.

We would like to extend a great thank you to the members of the Haas F1 Team. You are giving American Formula 1 fans a team they can be proud of. Happy Holidays to you all and good luck with that 2018 design!!

2017 Brazilian Grand Prix – Post Race

The Brazilian Grand Prix was over for the Haas F1 Team nearly as soon as the race started.

The senior Haas pilot, Romain Grosjean, qualified 12th and started 11th. The over performing, and not understated, Kevin Magnussen, qualified 14th and started 13th. It was a penalty to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo which moved him back to the P14 for the race start and bumped everyone else up.

World Champion Lewis Hamilton started from pit lane

Kevin Magnussen’s race was over in turn 2 of lap 1 when he made contact with the Ricciardo. Clearly Daniel Ricciardo was trying to take real estate which did not exist. Magnussen responded in classic #SuckMyBalls fashion and both cars went spinning off of the track. Ricciardo would rejoin the race. For Magnussen, it was game over.

Grosjeans race was ruined on turn 6 of lap . As Grosjean fought to hold onto the inside lone against the attacking Force India of Esteban Ocon on the outside, The VF-17 chassis of the Haas machine lost grip as under-steer caused him st slide into Ocon. It was the first race retirement of Ocon’s 28 race Formula 1 racing career. It is sad that Ocon’s first DNF (did not finish) has to come at and of a Haas F1 car.

Grosjean finished in P15.

The Haas F1 Team entered this race just point behind Renault for 7th place in the constructors championship. Nico Hulkenberg drove his Renault to a P10 finish which put Haas 2 points behind Renault going into the last race of the season.

The race itself was interesting. Vettel would win for Ferrari. Valteri Bottas delivered 2nd for Mercedes and Kimi Rankonen put the second Ferrari on the third step.z Lewis Hamilton would early get a podium with a 4th place finish from his pit lane start. Danial would deliver has Red Bull to P6 after having to pit on lap 1.

But we’re not too concerned with the race results aside from Haas. And not very happy at the moment…. errrrrrrrrr!!!!!

2017 Grand Prix of Mexico – Post Race

Optimism has not been the order of the day for the Haas F1 Team lately. Their expectations for the United States Grand Prix were met with their results of 14th for Romain Grosjean and 16th Kevin “The Daring Dane” Magnussen.

The Mexican Grand Prix was won by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel scraped for the F1 Drivers Championship, but in the end Vettel’s P4 finish wasnot enough to prevent the fall of the 2017 F1 drivers championship to Lewis Hamilton.,

Like the US Grand Pris, expectations for the Grand Prix of Mexico were low for the most populat F1 team in Kanapolis North Carolina. The Haas cars qualified in the same 14th and 16th positions to which they finished the US Grand Prix, except it was Kevin Magnussen in the 14th position for the start of the Mexican Grand Prix as he out qualified Grosjean in 16th.

Kevin Magnussen was overlooked by many for the F1 Drive Of The day. He started 14th, and was up to the 12th position by lap 2. On lap 3 he was up to P10, a points scoring position, and he never looked back. On lap 4 Magnussen was up to P9 and it was lap 6 when he moved up to P8, which is where he finished. He did move up to as high as 6th on lap 20.

Kevin Magnussen earned the “Haas F1 Fans Mail Man Award” when he finished in the race in 8th position, which delivered 4 points for the Haas F1 Team. Romain Grosjean would finish in 15th place. But those 4 points from Magnussen would draw the Haas Team to within 1 point of Renault, in 7th place for the F1 Constructors Championship, and only 6 points from the Toro Rosso team with 53 points in 6th place.

Sixth place may sound like a tall order with only two races remaining, but it could happen if they get some help. Today that help came from Renault, or as they might be called today Re’no-no-no-no-no. Six cars are running Renault engines in the 2017 season, and five of those engines would fail today. The sixth engine was in the Red Bull of the race winner, Max Verstappen. Here is a list of the Renault engine failures

Lap 6 – Daniel Riccardo – Red Bull – Engine Failure
Lap 26 – Nico Hulkenberg – Renault – Engine Failure
Lap 32 – Brendon Hartley – Toro Rosso – Engine Failure
Lap 58 – Marcus Ericsson – Toro Rosso – Engine Failure
Lap 62 – Carlos Sainz – Renault – Engine Failure

The Renault engine failures could allow that 7th Constructors position held by Renault to fall to Haas. And those Toro Rosso cars also have Renault engines. Another bad weekend for the Renault engines and Haas could rise two places. Time will tell…

2017 CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS

POS	TEAM	PTS
1	MERCEDES	595
2	FERRARI	455
3	RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER	340
4	FORCE INDIA MERCEDES	175
5	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	76
6	TORO ROSSO	53
7	RENAULT	48
8	HAAS FERRARI	47
9	MCLAREN HONDA	24
10	SAUBER FERRARI	5

But the race delivered by Kevin Magnussen was an absolutely brilliant drive. On lap 47 Mercedes predicted that Lewis Hamilton would finish the race in P8. Vettel was forced to drop to the back of the pack on lap 1 when he had to pit for a new nose wing after it punctured the tire of Lewis Hamilton. Vettel and Hamilton would both fight from the back of the pack, Vettel would pass Magnussen, but Hamilton would not.

Magnussen held off both Alonso in his McLaren, and Hamilton in his Mercedes, for over twenty laps. The Haas car was able to maintain a race pace which the McLaren or Mercedes could not match. And Kevin “The Daring Dane” Magnussen drove his Haas VR-17 to perfection.

Haas F1 Fans extend their congratulations to to Lewis Hamilton on winning the 2017 F1 Drivers Championship. And also to Mercedes on wining the Constructors Championship.

But to be honest, we at Haas F1 Fans don’t give a crap about any of that. We’ve got our sights set on P6 in the Constructors Championship.

We will see you on November 12th in Brazil. Game on Re’no-no-no-no-no-no

2017 United States Grand Prix – Post Race

Lewis Hamilton has won the United States Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel remains alive in the championship fight with his second place finish.

next race…. Mexico!

That is basically the end of the story for this posting on the Haas F1 Fan Journal.

Romain Grosjean qualified 12th and finished 14th. Kevin Magnussen qualified 14th and finished 16th. The poor result should not over shadow the basic fact tat the Haas F1 Team has again brought both cars home. The reliability in the car will pay off in the future. Haas will be more competitive on another day. And on that day the Haas car will be ready.

2017 Japanese Grand Prix – Post Race

The results for the Japanese Grand Prix are in, and for the second time this season both Haas F1 Team cars finished in point winning positions. Starting from the 16th position on the starting grid, Romain Grosjean Powered his Haas VF-17 to a P8 finish. Kevin Magnussen finished in P10 after starting ahead of Grosjean in P13.

Lewis Hamilton was the winner of the race. The drivers championship as nearly fallen to Hamilton after the Ferrari driven by Sebastian Vettel retired in lap 5. Mechanics changed a spark plug on the grid before the race, so that was our first clue to a problem with Vettel’s power plant. After what appeared to be a failed cylinder, Vettel made that hard right turn into the pit lane to retire the car, and his championship hopes were done. Lewis Hamilton could win at the Formula 1 drivers championship with a win at the US Grand Prix in Austin Texas and a P6 or worse finish for Vettel.

Upon returning to the garage, Vettel sat in his car for a an extended moment. perhaps he was holding onto the last moment of the seasons hope for a championship. It was at that moment he had to accept the mathematical reality of the drivers championship standings. Drivers are mandated by Formula 1 to provide access and interviews for the media after races. Vettel waved to the crowd, did not meet the press, and left the track. A bitter pill…

But as to the race, it was a good one. On lap 44 the two Haas cars executed a double passed on the Williams racer of Felipe Massa.

Haas F1 is currently in 7th place in the constructors championship. While still in only their second year, and with only fours races remain, the American startup is ahead of Renault and McLaren.

Next stop for the F1 circus, Austin Texas, and the United States Grand Prix. The home Grand Prix for the Haas F1 Team and it’s fans!!! It’s gona be a hoot! See you at Circuit Of The Americas!

2017 Malaysian Grand Prix – Post Race Review

The 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix was chock full of story lines. But there are no glamorous highlight for the Haas F1 Team.

The Haas cars of Roman Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen started the race 16th and 17th respectively. Grosjean finished 12th and Magnussen 13. Both Haas cars finished ahead of all Renault’s’, Saber’s and Toro Rosso’s. It proves that the Haas F1 Team is good, but they still didn’t get any points.

But the Haas F1 Team aside, it was a great race. There are many story lines worthy their own attention. Here is my list of Story lines from the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Max Conquers – Max Verstappin passed Lewis Hamilton on lap 6 to not only take the lead of the race but the win.
Vettels Climb – Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel started the race from the back of the pack and ended up finishing the race 4th.
Lewis’s Lead Lengthened – Lewis Hamilton extended his championship lead, but by not as big as he might think.
Redbull Rebounds – “Alonso Smiles” – Redbull taking first and third tells Alonso that his 2018 car should be fast.
Williams Wakes Up! – After a string of poor results Williams responds with both cars in the points.
Alonso tells Magnussen to #SuckMyBallsHoney – after a lap 33 pass by Alonso on Magnussen.

Bring On Suzuka!

2017 Singapore Grand Prix – Post Race

The Formula 1 Grand Prix at Singapore is perhaps one of the most exotic races on the F1 calendar. It is a night race which takes place on a lighted street circuit on the streets of Singapore, and has a video game aspect to the broadcast. The political intrigue surrounding the country entices feelings of a still far off place with back alleys and lurking uncertainties. In this regard, the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix did not disappoint.

Rain was falling before the race as teams prepared their cars on the starting grid. The rain stopped by the start of the race, but it was wet. With Vettel on pole and Verstappen lined up to his left on the front row, the race start was a sprint to turn one. As Vettel launched for his start he started to fade sharply to the left in an attempt to block the Redbull of Max Verstappen. What Vettel did not realize was that the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen was closing to the inside, and the gap between the three cars did close rather quickly. By the time they reached turn 1 the three cars smashed and were out of the race. I must say that I did predict that Vettel nor Verstappen would make it past turn 1. Max and Seb have similar approaches to dealing with aggression; their fists are already clinched and ready to throw. Clearly it was Vettels fault. But I digress…

As to the race… Romain Grosjean get the Haas F1 Fans Mail Man Award f.or delivering points to Gene Haas. In a very ho hum fashion Romain Grosjean qualified 15th. He just squeaked into the second qualifying round as his teammate Kevin Magnussen did not and started 16th. But in the end Grosjean finished in 9th place and earned 2 points for both himself and the Haas F1 Team.

Kevin Magnussen did not have such a ho hum race but did not finish. On the 26th lap of the race the Haas Team decided to be the first team to try full dry tires. Kevin Magnussen pitted for a set of Ultrasoft Pirelli’s and his lap times began to drop significantly. But despite his jump in speed he never really capitalized on the improvement. The rest of the field jumped to dry tires and Magnussen remained in the P13 position. On the 51st lap of the race KMags lost the hybrid drive in his Haas VF-17, and his day was done.

So Haas gets 2 points… in 8th place for the constructors championship with 37 points. In two weeks, Malaysia!

2017 CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS

POS	TEAM	PTS
1	MERCEDES	475
2	FERRARI	373
3	RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER	230
4	FORCE INDIA MERCEDES	124
5	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	59
6	TORO ROSSO	52
7	RENAULT	42
8	HAAS FERRARI	37
9	MCLAREN HONDA	17
10	SAUBER FERRARI	5

2017 Italian Grand Prix – Race Review

Hopes for the Haas F1 Team were over on Saturday after just 2 minutes into the first qualifying session. The rainy conditions during the first two minutes of qualifying were greater than the Blue Pirelli full wet tires could accommodate, and Romain Grosjean hydroplaned off of a straight part of empty track. The car simply lifted and Romain was a a passenger, like a kid at the beach sliding along on his skim board among the receding waves. When the rains finally did recede at The Autodromo Nazionale Monza, and qualifying resumed, Grosjean did not participate. The best Kevin Magnussen could manage in his qualifying session was P16. But remarkable, because so many grid place penalties were assigned Magnussen started 9th. The lack of penalties to the Haas Team is an easily overlooked aspect amidst so many teams being so heavily penalized.

It was lap 47 of 53 that Kevin Magnussen lost his 10th place points position when Max Verstappen passed him. KMags finished in that all too familiar 11th place for the Haas F1 Team. He was in the points for most of the race, but in an post race interview admitted that he finished where they belonged. The Mercedes powered cars of the Williams and Force India and of course AMG Mercedes F1 cars were too much for the power of Scuderia Ferrari and the Haas F1 team.

But without a doubt, the Ferrari Tifosi at the Italian Grand Prix are the greatest podium in all of motor sports. As Lewis Hamilton was soundly boo’d for his first place podium, Lewis himself recognized the unique passion of Ferrari fans in Italy. There is no other manufacturer, team or fans like Ferrari. It was an incredible spectate as thousands of fans filled every camera angle for as far as you could see.

For Haas F1… it’s on to Singapore in two weeks. We enter the fly-away portion of the series where the teams now rely on their air cargo for everything. The Singapore is a night race and a beautiful spectacle to watch. The lights among a night background provide an almost video game like appearance. The track is unforgiving as it has very limited run off areas, and the guard rails will win against every impact.

For Haas F1, the Italian Grand Prix allows them to bond with their Ferrari partners, and hopefully sell some CNC machines… keep feeding the goose that lays those F1 golden eggs, and less eggs by the team! 0 points!

Thick and thin, they’re our team, it’s why we’re fans! Go Haas F1!

2017 Belgian Grand Prix – Race Review

The second half of the 2017 Formula 1 Season has begun, and the Haas F1 Team has made a strong showing. Romain Grosjean finished in 7th place and as earned 6 points for both the team for the constructors championship and himself for the drivers championship.

It was lap 29 when the Force India on track circus happened. Their two drivers had an on track incident where they touched and both cars would ultimately be eliminated from the points. Kevin Magnussen was running at P7 when this occured. Sergio Perez hit the car of his team mate Esteban Ocon. , his race did not end as well as it started. It was the race restart on lap 34 when Magnussen lost his race. He had been running strong all day, and a definite points contender for his Haas F1 Team. It was on turn 1 as the race was resuming that KMAGS found himself squeezed off of the track. By the time he re-entered the track and assumed racing speed he was at the very back of the pack in P17. He would end the day in that 15th position, 5 places out of the points positions.

One of the best racing moments in the 2017 season occured on lap 15 of this race. Sebastian Vettel was leading the race followed by Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton third in his Mercedes. On lap 14 Vettel pitted, which put Kimi in the lead. Lewis Hamilton Attacked Kimi Raikkonen on the turn 3-4 up hill climb which is known as Eau Rouge and made the pass at the crest of the hill as the road fades left into turn 5, or Raidillion. Hamilton tore into Raikkonen on the uphill climb and could not have time a more perfect pass on a more iconic corner for the race lead. Again Vettel and Hamilton proved themselves the class of the field by both beating their teammates soundly. Hamilton finished first and Vettel second. The Red Bull of Daniel Riccardo took the final step on the podium.

The Belgian Grand Prix was the 200th career start for Lewis Hamilton, and his 68th start from pole, tying Michael Schumacher’s record for the most formula 1 pole positions. Following the qualifying session Lewis was given a message of congratulations from the Schumacher family directly from the FIA Managing directory himself, Ross Brawn. It was a very moving moment as Lewis continues to stack up his performance milestones. It was an extremely graceful sentiment from Michael’s family. Be Strong Michael… the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time.

But for the Haas F1 Team… 6 more points gives the team a 2017 total of 35. the Haas Team is just 5 points behind the 40 points of Toro Rosso, and 10 behind Williams who has 45 points.

Romain Grosjean gets our Mailman Award for delivering the points for Gene Haas. The Haas cars are strong and their drivers are a match for any of their competitors. We’re not going to cry over Magnussens lost points, maybe pout for a short time of fan pity… but it is a short week and we’ve got Monza next Sunday. The Haas Team is getting it done in the pits, with their strategy and on track performance. But Formula 1 is not very forgiving of mistakes, and Magnussen’s cost the team some points today. But Haas F1 Fans are finding soemthing to be positive about at every turn of the 2017 season… bring on the Italian Grand Prix… bring on Monza!!!

2017 Hungarian Grand Prix – Race Review

The 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix is in the books for the Haas F1 Team…. and that is a good place for it. After a few days of scheduled testing this week the team will all go home and take their FIA mandated vacations.

Performance for all three practice sessions for the Grand Prix weekend were uninspiring. Romain Grosjean achieved the best practice result and placed 15th in the third practice. Grosjean also qualified 15th for the race while Kevin Magnussen qualified 16th.

It was a good race. Daniel Riccardo was side swiped buy his team mate Max Verstappen on the very first lap. A radiator on Riccardo’s car was damaged and coolant was expressed on the car and track; his Redbull was broken, by another Redbull. Riccardo was pissed and beside himself to find restraint in the interview which followed immediately after returning to the paddock. It was the first “first lap” retirement of his career according to the NBC broadcast.

On lap 21 Magnussen was running 13th and Grosjean 16th when Haas race control informed Grosjean that he had “low tire pressure on the left front”.. his response… “wonderful”. Grosjean pits and all seems right with the broadcast. Just as Leigh Diffy mentions that it “has not been a good weekend for Haas”, Roman Grosjean was instructed to “stop the car”…

…and the Haas VR17 drops a big turd on the track. It really stunk up the place…

It was not a pretty sight. They crossed a wheel nut on one of the new wheels, and released the car…. The crew member on the right rear of the car has his arms crosses in the universal marshaling language of STOP, as the car drove away! Hindsight being what it is, and as fans, we’re better off not getting into the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s of what happened…. Shit happens! Lap 21 and the number 8 car of Grosjean is out while the number 20 car of Kevin Magnussen was running in 13th .

While the Haas team held a debrief of the debacle, the Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen lead the race 1 -2 respectively. They finish the race in the same order. And with that win Vettel (202 points) established a 24 point gap between himself and Lewis Hamilton (188 points) of Mercedes, for the drivers construction.

Lewis Hamilton finished 4th. On lap 47 The Mercedes Team issued orders for Valtteri Bottas to relinquish his position. Hamilton was running strong and the team he was running fast enough to fight ahead with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen. I’ll spare the details, but Lewis could not catch Kimi… Lewis Hamilton relinquished 3 championship points when he filed in behind Bottas on the last turn of the last lap and handed the third podium position back to Valtteri Bottas. It happened at the very last moment before crossing the finish line.

But from every race, we look for a take away. And for the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix we found one, and we have Kevin Magnussen to thank for it. KMags delivered an 11th place finish., though the official race results placed Magnussen at 13th place. Magnussen received 2 points against his F1 Superlicense and a 5 second penalty for a race incident involving German driver Nico Hulkenberg. Those 5 seconds cost him two positions on the result from 11th to 13th.

On lap 61 Magnussen forced Hulkenberg wide as the German tried to execute a pass on the outside. Magnussen defended and faded to the right as the Renault of Hulkenberg tried to pass Magnussen on a bending left sweeping turn. Magnussen made what can be classified as a blocking move, and the yellow Renault was eating dust… I digress…

The 5 second penalty cost the team 2 meaningless positions on the final result. Magnussen received a 2 point penalty on his license. But Nico Hulkenberg was not happy. Nico Hulkenberg called Magnussen “the most unsporting driver”… Haas F1 Team boss Gunther Steiner came to his drivers defense calling Hulkenberg “a bully”. But Magnussen’s response to Hulkenberg was cataclysmic in its impact… and an all timer!

Kevin Magnussen told Nico Hulkenberg to “suck my balls honey”…

Aside from delivering social media gold to the F1 world… KMags set a no prisoners mentality. Nothing brings a team together better than a common enemy… a chip they can carry around over their vacation break.

From a racing perspective, the race was meaningless. The Haas Team is in 7th place for the constructors championship with 29 points. Renault is behind them in 8th with 26 points. Last year the team finished the season with 29 points, so They’ve scored level with last years totals, and we still have the entire second half of the season ahead of us.

But here we are in the second year for the American team. They are leading Renault. Renault built it’s first purpose built race car in 1907, The Racing Roadster. That car went on to win the first ever race called a “Grand Prix”.

So the Haas F1 Team will enter their sophomore summer break amidst a bit of controversy. Kevin Magnussen is telling the competition to “suckmyballshoney” and the Haas fans love it. The @HaasF1Fans twitter feed was alive with some “Vikings” ready to jump in on the fight. That is a clan I will not mess with, and that is the message that The Haas F1 Team is sending…

So enjoy your break from F1 everyone. Look for HaasF1Fans on Facebook and twitter.