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.

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

2017 British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix was another solid link in the Haas F1 competency core. Both cars finished the race, and Grosjean finished 10th and scored yet one more point for the Tribe from Kannapolis. It was really Kevin Magnussen’s day to repeat his Monaco performance and score, but it was not to be.  KMags passed the Mclaren of Stoffel Vandoorne while under a virtual safety car situation, and was penalized 5 seconds on his next pit stop. Those 5 seconds would put him back towards the end of the field and out of points. The thing which does not make sense is that Magnussen was penalized for passing while under the virtual safety car.

Grosjean was running 12 most of the second half of the race until the Toro Rosso of Kvyat failed, then the Mclaren of Fernando Alonso failed on the second to the last lap. So Grosjean was gifted another point for his 10th place finish Magnussen got nothing for finishing 12th. But Magnussen started 18th and again, the entire Haas F1 Team linked yet another complete race for two cars, and one point for the effort.

Send lawyers, guns and money… we’re off to Azerbaijan!

2017 Austrian Grand Prix – Race Review

With a waft of summer edelweiss in the air, Romain Grosjean finished 6th place in the Austrian Grand Prix with his Haas F1 Team car. With the finish Grosjean claims 8 more points and stands with a total of 18 points for the year in the 2017 F1 Drivers championship. He’s tied with the Williams of Lance Stroll and the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg  who also have 18 points for positions 11 thru 13. The other Haas car of Kevin Magnussen sits in that 14th spot with 11 points.

The Haas F1 Team has solidified their hold on the 7th spot in the constructors championship. Renault entered this race with 18 points to the 21 of Haas. Those yellow Renault cars could not keep up and finished out of the top 10 and therefore score no points. The deficit of  by the French team will allow the Americans to make a leap in pursuit of the next constructor in the standings, Toro Rosso. With 33 points, the Toro Roso’s of Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat are loosing ground to the Haas Team… the game is afoot.

As for the race… Romain Grosjean was fast all week. Both of the Haas Cars were in the top 10 for all three practice sessions leading up to qualifying. Grosjean Qualified 7th, and started 6th, when Lewis Hamilton was bumped back 5 grid spots for a transmission swap penalty. Kevin Magnussen experienced a rear suspension failure during the first session of qualifying.  Despite not completing the the first qualifying session he still completed a lap fast enough to place him 15th on the grid…

In the world of woulda, coulda, shoulda.  KMags shoulda  scored points. His pre-race bout with the gremlin stick continued into the race as smoke began to pour from the rear of the Dane’s Ferrari in the 29th lap.  With a race distance of 71 laps, Magnesium woulda had plenty of time to advance one more position into the top 10 and the points. With both Toro Rosso’s and Renault’s finishing way back, this mechanical failure can directly attribute to the loss of at least one point. Despite the lack of points, both the driver and car demonstrated that they have the pace to lead the mid pack.

Romain Grosjean gets the Mailman award… he carried the mail and delivered 8 points for Gene Haas. Grosjean maintained his relative position the entire race.  He nor the team made any mistakes and the car was fast. The Ferrari powered Haas VF-17 is proving to be a fast car. And did anyone notice… no mention of brakes from Grosjean. Has Haas worked out the brake problems on the number 08 car? We shall see.

The next stop for the F1 circus is Silverstone and the British Grand Prix. Let’s see if the the Haas F1 Team can maintain the pace of fast, mistake free racing and race craft and conquer that 6th position ion the constructors championship from Toro Rosso…

Until then……. tally ho!

2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – pre-qualifying

We’ve been through three practice sessions and qualifying begins in 30 minutes. But this correspondent will be leaving with the family precisely at that time … it is a June Saturday after all.

I will throw out my thoughts about this race till now…

It has been a yawn fest. This circuit is more about surviving than actually providing good racing opportunities. The carnage at the Castle wall of turn 8 is unacceptable to me. This will probably be the race that Joylon Palmer looks back on as the one which did him in.

Regarding my expectations for Haas, their best shot is to play it conservative and let others crash out… sad to say but yep. I don’t see them making it out of Q2…

Safe qualifying to all!!!

2017 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying – Romain Grosjean Shines!

Romain Grosjean qualified 8th for the Monaco Grand Prix. The Haas  car performed well despite a very near miss by Grosjean when he spun at Mirabeau during the second stage of qualifying.

Both Grosjean and the Haas car performed well. the car also performed well for Kevin Magnussen. KMags was on an absolute flier during Q2 when he was blocked on track by none other than the….. Languishing Lewis Hamilton. As a result, Magnussen will start the race in P13.

If ever there was an opportunity for the Haas F1 Team to campaign two cars in a third stage of qualifying, it was today.  The cars of  Force India driven by Sergio Perez and the Toro Roso car of Carlos Sainz both out paced the Haas machine of Grosjean. This keeps Haas third in that pecking order behind the leaders. But the car has out performed most fans expectations. Maybe I’ll read about brake problems, but I’ve not heard a peep of the “B” word…

Regarding Lewis……

I don’t think the problem was the car. He seemed to be over inputting everything. The oversteer had him sideways. And all of that vertical slip is time…. and if piled up in heaps. He knows this track as well as anyone. His teammate was first after the Ferrari’s. Lewis can tend to be a bit of emotional about things at times while in the cockpit. That emotion generally serves him well. We’ve seen Lewis tear up the field from the back of the grid. But no one does that at Monaco…

Regarding Pole…. Kimi Raikkonen was brilliant. 4/100’s of a second separate the first 3 cars of Raikkonen, Vettel, and Bottas. The Ferrari’s were delivering top performance for their drivers. Sebastian Vettel was grabbing all of the attention before qualifying. He, Like Hamilton, have a storied record at Monaco, but only has one win in 2011. Hamilton has won the Monaco Grand Prix twice, in 2008 and last years 2016 race.

As you may recall, Hamilton;s 2016 victory was tainted with the controversy of Justin Bieber.  Upon taking his magnum of victory Campaign, he gave the first sip to Bieber. The 2017 Monaco Grand Prix promises to be a Bieber Free Event… as Lewis has no shot at a victory. His best hope is for attrition at the front of the field.

But for the Haas F1 team? They are in a good position to score double points.There will be some failures in front of Magnussen.  He has had better than averages race starts and has been faster than his team mate at times. With some luck and effective strategy, the Haas team can see some success at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.

 

2017 Spanish Grand Prix


It was the first lap which would be the last for Raikkonen and Verstappen when they had a runing with the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas on lap one. Bottas, Raikkonen and Verstappen started 3,4 and 5 respectively.

Hamilton would go on to win, with Vettel and Ferrari finishing second, while shoey boy himself Daniel Ricciardo took the third podium step.

Notice how I’m avoiding the Haas team? Well they would walk away with one point after Grosjean finished 10. Kevin Magnussen finished out of the points and in 14th position. One point is better than zero… which is how many Kevin Magnussen has to date for Haas. I hope we are not going to see the second coming of Esteban Gutierrez… I hope not.

For the Haas squad it was a solid race weekend. It was not especially exciting, and they only scored one point. But it was another mistake free race, and both cars finished the race distance. Let’s not forget the importance of getting the small things correct on a consistent basis. Being stuck in the mid field is like the purgatory of F1 hell. But we’re not at the back, and reliability has been fairly good for the Haas F1 Team. Magnussen qualified P11 and finished P14. Grosjean started P14 and finished 10.

So that is it for the Spanish Grand Prix. Haas is in 8th place of the constructors championship with 9 points.

Fuel up the yacht, it’s time for Monaco.