2016 United States Grand Prix

 The 2016 United States Grand Prix what’s the first home race for the Haas F1 Team, and fans were excited. There were record crowds on hand at Circuit of the Americas. And it was obvious that America was glad to have a Formula 1 team again.

So the Haas Team went into to qualifying with hot very high hopes, especially after their best ever qualifying session in Japan just two weeks previously. But as it would work out it was not a very good qualifying session for the team. Grosjean did not advance out of the first qualifying session and started 17th on the grid. His Junior root teammate, Esteban Gutierrez, made it into Q2 and started 14th on the grid.

Both Haas cars had a very good race start. By the end of the first lap Grosjean have moved up from 17th to 14th Place. And Gutierrez worked his way up to 10th from 14th.

After two pit stops Grosjean had worked his way up to 12th place. Gutierrez would retire from the race because of brake failures. It was a very disappointing to watch, especially considering what a good race he was running.

With mechanical failures, front runners Max Verstappen in his Red Bull and Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari would not finish the race. This moved Romain Grosjean up to 10 place, which is where he finished the race. Grosjean earned the Haas team a single first home Grand Prix for that 10th place finish. It was an extremely positive an exciting day for the team and their fans.

Next next week we are on to Mexico for the home Grand Prix of Esteban Gutierrez. Things are looking up for the Haas F1 team. We’ll see you in Mexico

 

2016 Japanese Grand Prix

After a terrible showing at the Malaysian Grand Prix Haas was looking for a performance they could build on going into Japan. The weekend started strong with optimism as both hot cars made it into the third qualifying round. Romain grosjean qualified seventh on the grid and s-bahn Gutierrez started 10th. Nico rosberg took pole in his Mercedes Silver Arrow and his teammate Lewis Hamilton started in P2

Hopes faded quickly for the husk Squad asgrow Jean lost two positions in the first lap. By the 10th lap and after the first series of pit stops, grosjean had dropped the 14th position and Gutierrez 20th. Groshong was able to fight back and finish 11th but Gutierrez would finish the race in 20th position.

But the team again was able to finish and that is perhaps the positive take away. Liability will carry this team long into the future. I’m finishing this race after the retirements in Malaysia cuz a good sign.

Next it’s off to Texas for the first home Grand Prix of the new Haas team. United States Grand Prix is next and the house fans will be there in force. See you in Texas

2016 Malaysian Grand Prix – Race Final

Haas fans were optimistic going into to the Malaysian Grand Prix. Haas F1 teammates remind groshan and Esteban Gutierrez qualified 12th and 13th respectively. The 7 race trout of not scoring points has left the American team rather stagnant and in need of encouragement.

Encouragement would not come this race weekend.  Gutierrez got a puncture on his front tire at the first turn of the race start when the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and tge Mercedes Nico rosberg got into a  scrap fighting for position. Gutierrez is the car that got hurt and put him in last place, 20th position.

Romain Grosjean’s race ended on lap 9 when he experienced complete brake failure at turned 15. This car was safely captured by the gravel but his race was done.

For Esteban Gutierrez, his race ended one lap 41 when his left front tire came off of his car. There was no explanation as to why this happened happened. For the Haas Team it’s another race with no points.

Japanese Grand Prix is next. The Suzuki track is one of the most exciting in the world. Because it has that cross over it’s technically a Figure 8. Just like the race set we got as kids for Christmas. Until Japan, sayonara!

 

2016 Singapore Grand Prix – Race Final

Responsibility and attention was piled upon Esteban Gutierrez today at the Singapore Grand Prix. For the first time in the team’s history the Haas F1 team was only able to field one competitor in today’s race. The car of Romain Grosjean suffered a series of mechanical failures which the team was not able to resolve before the race start. Esteban Gutierrez qualified 13th.

During the race Gutierrez was able to reach P5. This Was His Highest position and he would end the day and that all too familiar 11th Place. After 15 races Esteban Gutierrez has still not scored any points for the Haas team and this would be his sixth time finishing in 11th spot, fun place away from those elusive points.

Croatians problems begin during practice. The French Haas pilot was not able to participate in practice 1. He spun the car in practice 2 and it broke his rear wing, rear suspension, and it’s floor. Heathens pen again and it broke his gearbox or as we call it a transmission. The replacement of the transmission costume of five place penalty on the starting grid which would have been applied after qualifying. But then at the last minute his brake by wire system broke and Grosjean shop was out of the race.

It was a beautiful waste race to watch. Just not for the Haas team. We’ll see you all in Malaysia in 2 weeks.

2016 Italian Grand Prix – Pre Race

Esteban Gutiérrez has qualified 10th for the 2016 Italian Grand Prix. He is the first driver to take a Haas F1 car into the third qualifying round for any race.

The team rolled out a special wing for the Italian Grand Prix.  The leading edge of the wing is shaped in the form of a “W”.

Mercedes is utilizing a wing with a leading edge shaped like an elongated V. But the Haas design doubles this form factor in a waving fashion.  Visually the two wings look different from the standard flat plank the Haas team and most others run. But what is the advantage of the wave in the wing? How does this help the car go faster? Does it provide more or less downforce then a standard wing? These are the many questions I was asking, and not a single NBC analyst dared to tackle the design impact, including Steve Matchette. I was disappointed.

The new wing on the Haas F1 car has two intended purposes; greater downforce and better stability in high speed turns. Down force is not the only application of Bernoulli’s principle at work here, and not what Haas and AMG Mercedes are chasing with their designs.

Building curves into the wing effectively makes it longer. Just as a shoe lace looks shorter while in the package, it stretches out when you unwind it. In the same way both Haas and Mercedes have done this. Adding a second wing is an alternate approach to lengthening the wing. So why the wave? Wouldn’t a wave   increase the drag? Well yes is does to an extent. And it creates vertical down force. But the teams are chasing another aeronautical dynamic, the vertical component of lift.

The vertical component of lift is what allows air planes to turn. Ailerons on the wings is how the pilot controls this force, along with their rudder and elevator. As the pilot turns his wheel to the left, the aileron on the right drops down, which causes the wing to go up. The lift which raises the plane can be directed sideways and cause the plane to turn. To assist in turning an airplane, some wings are not flat but have an upward bend built into it, or dihedral. Remember that a race car wing is like an airplane wing, but upside down . So the AMG Mercedes uses a single bend inverted design or dihedral. The Haas wing has 2 bends on each side, polyhedral.

So as the Haas and AMG Mercedes cars are driving in a straight line there are downward forces coming off of the wing, perpendicular to the wing surface. The AMG Mercedes wing spreads it’s down force in the shape of an umbrella. The downward forces on the Haas wing spread in an even more lateral or sideways direction. As the car enters a turn the down forces on the back of the car will become asymmetrical. The vertical component of lift can be used to help get the car around the corner. I suspect that these aerodynamics are only beneficial at high speeds. So at a track with high speed turns, like Monza, the benefits can be realized. On a slower track the beneficial vertical down force may be negligible and drag inducing. It would require a conversation with the design team to fully understand the aerodynamic nuances… wouldn’t that be cool! I digress…

So the new Haas wing is exciting. The car is faster and lookes very stable…

From the beginning I’ve been touting the reliability of the Haas Team… reliability… race craft… over and over. Well today Esteban Gutierrez essentially addressed my point in an interview with Will Buxton, and i paraphrase, ” since we’ve been consistent we’ve then been able to focus on things that will help us”. The reliability s paying off. After all of those 11th place finishes, he has broken into the top 10.

Grosjean qualified 12th but will start 17th due to a 5 place penalty for his transmission swap. Yes I call it a transmission, not a gearbox. My 5 speed Honda Accord has a gearbox!

Again it comes down to the start. Esteban and Romain have both had good starts and escaped turn 1 unscathed. Let’s believe the same is going to happen. Dare I say they could have not one but two cars in points? I believe Esteban Gutierrez will score his first points for Haas F1. And if Grosjean can manage his tires, I believe he can move up. Points are not out of the question for both drivers. The car’s were especially fast in qualifying. The Team did not post a time for Gutierrez until the very end of Q3, which concerned me. But I believe they were conceding the effort. P10 puts him on the outside of the track and a safer vantage point into turn 1. It was a safe play…

Can the team maintain it’s advantage throughout the race? Have the Haas cars improved? It sure looks like it. A single mistake by a competitor could make the difference. The Haas Team has not made any significant mistakes on race day. This is going to be an exciting and fast race.

Go Haas F1 Team!!!!

It’s Monza… and the Americans are in the house!!!

 

 

 

2016 Belgian Grand Prix – Pre Race

Half time is over… The kickoff to Formula 1’s second half is just hours away. We’ve all had time to eat a meatball sandwich, use the facilities, catch a smoke, even run out for more beer.  Kickoff is officially at 8 AM EST August 28th, tomorrow morning, at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

The Haas F1 Team has not failed to disappoint at any point of its development. The team is fairly well seated in the F1 constructors championship in 8th position with 28 points. They follow McLaren who holds 42 points and leads Renault in 9th position with 6 points. McLaren and Honda are not relenting to develop their engine for this year. They are in a points battle with Toro Rosso who only leads McLaren by 3 points, with 45.   So it was not surprising to learn that the Haas team will commit all new development activities to the car they will campaign for the 2017 season. As the emphasis on the teams opportunities fade, an opportunity for the drivers emerges. They can define a meaningful purpose to the racing… now it’s personal!!!

The 5 position grid penalty on Esteban Gutierrez can be seen in two ways. As Tevye (Father character in “Fiddler On The Roof”) would say… in his deep baritone voice…

On one hand, he is a good boy! He does not break my car, too much. He does not earned his keep but,  he also has finished 11th place… 4 times! He does not embarrass me! I sell lots of hats in Mexico, and I like him. He’s a good boy!

On the other hand… I’m not so sure. The accident in Australia, Alonso could have been killed.  Now a 5 spot penalty… for what.. forgetting you are in a race car, on a race track, and there are other cars? We shall see…

But on the other hand… he has been doing better than my other boy… but still no points…

Starting from 18th position may be too difficult for Gutierrez to over come. Even if he can pick up a few positions at the start, it seems that points are an unrealistic expectation for him. I sure hope I’m wrong. and I might be.

Drivers are complaining that Pirelli’s tire pressure requirements are too stringent. Many feel it is making the tires too hard, resulting in higher temperatures and premature degradation. In this motorsport article, Jensen Button explains his frustrations with the tires. It’s worth reading, but not me repeating! 🙂

But the tire pressure could play into Haas’s hands. Now I admit my logic may be a bit loosely fitted, but all indicators are in the teams favor. In a fantastically written article on the Haas F1 Team web site, Romain Grosjean says this,

“The car was fine in qualifying. We made a good step before the summer break, so I’m more happy with the car. There are still a few things we can improve but, generally, it’s not a bad place to be after qualifying. For the race, I don’t think we’ll be as challenged as some of the other teams. Hopefully, we can have a good, aggressive strategy and try to make it work to get some points.”

Romain does not tell us what their advantage is, but they definitely must feel that they have one. Execution of their strategy will need to be perfect for the team to over perform. The combined design and execution of the race strategy could significantly improve the Haas Team’s performance, and it’s their greatest strength.

At the beginning the 2016 season the Haas team had no experience with their new car. The team had never worked together. Their front wing was shit and Esteban could not find the bathroom. Yet Haas F1 scored in three of their first 4 races. Perhaps I’m beating a dead horse, but Gene Haas bring race craft! It does not matter if he’s racing Chevy modifieds on a  dirt track, wrenching on Indy cars, or writing history in the NASCAR record books, he knows what he’s doing.

If ever there was an opportunity to win a race on strategy and execution, it will be the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix.

Both Romain’s and Esteban’s primary purpose, in life tomorrow, is to get a great race start and through turn 1 unscathed. The unscathed part is the most important thing. Jumping ahead then having to pit is not really jumping ahead… so… you listening Esteban? For Esteban this race is a bit of a trial. For Romain, an opportunity.

Romain Grosjean is starting in 11th position. The Haas car does not have the giddy up to run with Williams or Force India. And as mentioned before, the McLaren will only get faster. Attrition at the front of the pack never hurt the feelings of the mid pack contenders, and if that happens Romain will be the first to benefit.

No one has any idea how the race will play out. We’ve seen similar tire life expectancies from both the medium ands and soft tire compounds. But the Ardennes is taking its tole. The heat is tearing and blistering the tires in rates disproportionate to previous races. In that gap is where the fortunes lie for the Haas F1 team. An opportunity will present itself and they will be ready!

I do believe that Romain Grosjean will score points.  Esteban, 11th position? For the 5th time? Seems reasonable.

and on a personal note…
“If I were a rich man”… twitter follower @EauRouger  would we watching this race from La Source. Keep fighting Chester!

 

2016 German Grand Prix – Pre-race

Esteban Gutiérrez qualified 11th for the German Grand Prix. He lines up behind the Mercedes powered Force India of Sergio Perez. In P10 and to Gutierrez’s right front is the Mercedes powered Williams of Felipe Massa. Behind him are the Honda powered McLarens of Button in 12th and Alonso in 13th.

Gutierrez out qualified both McClarens, both Renaults, both toro Rosso’s, both Manors, both Saubers and…. drumroll… his teammate romain Grosjean. Grosjean’s 15th position in qualifying was rewarded with a further 5 grid bump to the back due. A spin in free practice 3 damaged his gearbox (transmission). Per Formula 1 rules, the Haas f1 Team  Grosjean specifically, were penalized 5 grip spots for the swap. The penalty may be more than Grosjean can overcome to earn points.

Esteban Gutierrez has been showing steady improvement throughout the year. He retired from the first and second race. But he as since completed the rest of the races to this point. After 11 races Esteban Gutierrez has completed the last 9 races. Of his 9 finishes he’s got three 11th places finishes, which are his best in a Haas car. Spain, Montreal and Austria he was knocking at the door but denied. the car is proving reliable. He has out performed his teammate Grosjean in 6 of the last 7 races. Esteban is increasing his value to the team with each drive. Gunther Steiner, Haas f1 Team Principal, stated that the team will shift it’s development focus to the 2017 chassis. As long as Gutierrez is finishing races he is doing his job. But as his performance demonstrates a trajectory forward, he makes Gene Haas’s driver decision with each race. The less Haas has to worry about driver lineup provides more stability for the development platform.

And after the German Grand Prix we can expect the F1 silly season of rumors to begin. I’ll throw out my suspicions about the Haas driver lineup.

Does Romain Grosjean have Renault dreams? I’ve written previously that Renault would be his dream job. As the entire season is about to pop like a toaster over… we could see some musical chairs…

Assume Haas likes what Gutierrez is doing and he continues along his trajectory, I think Esteban stays. Renault had to adapt the Lotus Chassis to fit their engine. But next year will be a ground up design entirely new, entirely Renault. Grosjean has proven himself a valuable development driver. Renault could use him next year and I think Romain would love it… maybe i’m wrong. But i don’t think i am.

So as the silly season commences i’ll be thinking about Grosjean’s seat. Indications are that McClaren may be ready to break ties with Jensen Button… Bang! If Alonso leaves F1 .

So there is a little mind blurb that’s been building. Maybe I’m wrong, they keem Grosjean and axe Esteban… if we can stay pat, and Romain is happy, then the team is better off. Esteban Gutierrez is tired of 11th place finishes. But this time he’s got an 11th place start. If ever he was in a position to score points it’s now. His start will be critical… I think we will see Haas score points in Germany and Esteban will further his case that he is the right guy at the right time!

 

2016 Hungarian Grand Prix

The Hungarian Grand Prix did not bring points for the Haas F1 Team, but they had a good race. Esteban Gutierrez was the top Haas performer, and again out performed his teammate Romain Grosjean by finishing 12th. Grosjean finished in 14th position. Gutierrez was later given a 5-second penalty for failing to acknowledge a blue flag, and those 5 seconds were enough to drop him to 13th position.

The team demonstrated great consistency by maintaining their mid field positions throughout the race was able to maintain their Midfield positions. The team maintained consistency throughout the race weekend. Grosjean qualified 11th and Gutierrez 15th. At one point Gutierrez was in 11th and threatening for his first point’s position. But the Mercedes powered force India of Sergio Perez was just too much and Esteban had to be happy with 12th Place.

As a new F1 team, Haas does not have performance data from previous years as a benchmark. So with each race the team must begin to understand the tactics required for each individual track. Consistency is the best indicator of the team’s performance. With each race they are learning how to better develop and execute their race strategy. With each year the team will progress. But for this year we want to see consistency. Their consistency will provide greater abilities and confidence within the team as they grow. And they are growing by leaps and bounds.

The Haas F1 team is getting stronger and stronger with each race. The next step in the teams development will be for Esteban Gutierrez to score the point .  After that the next goal will be to have two cars in the points. Hopefully this will happen at the same time.

The German Grand Prix is next.

Until then auf wiedersehen.

2016 British Grand Prix – Post Race

The Haas F1 Team entered the 50th British Grand Prix weekend with hope and optimism. Race day was wet, it was raining when the lights went green. All of the cars started the race with full wet tires and the first five laps were clocked behind the safety car. The rain quickly subsided. The field pitted with the safety car and they all went to slicks.

For the Haas Team, it was not the success they were hoping for. Romain Grosjean qualified in the 13th position while his Mexican team-mate Esteban Gutierrez started next to him in 14th position. Both cars making the second qualifying round would be the best the team could accomplish for the weekend.

The first sign of trouble for the Haas Team occurred on the 17th lap. A gear box (transmission) failure for Romain Grosjean ended his day. Grosjean’s only other retirement this season was in Spain. Esteban Gutierrez finish the race in 16th position and was the last car to finish the race. He was lapped by the race leading Mercedes of Nico Rosberg on the 28th lap.

The Haas team is showing good reliability. They are continually improving with each race and their drivers are winning battles on the track. They finished the British Grand Prix with the same number of points they started, 28.

The Hungarian Grand Prix is in two weeks. We’ll see you then!

2016 Austrian Grand Prix – Race Final

Esteban Gutiérrez recently outperformed his teammate Romain Grosjean at the Spanish, Monaco and Canadian Grand Prix’s. Both in Spain and Monaco Esteban finished 11th, nearly capturing his first points for the Haas F1 Team. Though he did fall behind his team mate at the European Grand Prix, we’ve been seeing a surge in Esteban’s performance. And that dominance continued through qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. Esteban Gutiérrez started 11th while Romain Grosjean started 13th.

At the end of the day Gutiérrez finished where he started, 11th. But Romain Grosjean again brought the Ferrari powered Haas car back into points by finishing 7th.  The Haas F1 team is firmly planted in the 8th constructors championship standing with 28 points and only 4 points behind Mclaren. And Jenson Button surely gave his Mclaren team a lift with his 6th place finish. The silver lining for the Haas Team is that both of their cars finished today. Fernando Alonso alone has as many DNF’s as the entire Haas team with 3 total. Button had two DNF’s himself. As the Haas Team pushes their cars harder towards the front there will be an impact on reliability. But this is the payoff we are looking to capitalize on, and reliability can be what turns those three Gutiérrez P11 finishes into points.

But for our man Romain Grosjean, what can we say… he just delivers. He spent half of the Austrian Grand Prix fighting off the Force India of Carlos Sainz and the Williams of Valtteri Bottas. The Haas car was giving Romain the horses he needed to fight the two Mercedes powered cars. Grosjean never gave his opponents a clean opportunity to pass and was at times threatening the Mclaren of Button in front of him. And because he was consistently less than one second behind Button, Grosjean never lost a DRS zone advantage. So he stayed pace with the competitors behind him .

So the Austrian Grand Prix is a good start to what promises to be a very busy July. From Austria the teams travel to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix on July 10th. Two weeks later on July 24th the teams meet at the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix. A week later on July 31st is the German Grand Prix. With the Austrian race being the first of four races this month, the teams will be looking forward to their summer break in August.

So onto Silverstone for the Haas F1 Team and their fans. Our goal is to outperform McClaren on their home turf and close the four point gap with them. From there we set our sights on the Toro Rosso team, currently only leading the Haas team by only 8 points…

There are three more races until the summer break. A constructors championship goal of 7th before the break is not unreasonable. Their 8th place position in the constructors championship is safe with Renault lagging behind by 22 points in 9th place. So not only has the team already over performed beyond expectations, they’ve do so with little threat of losing their 8th place standing. With three races remaining before the half way point, the team is in a position to make a 4 point gain on McClaren and go into the break in 7th place! That may be a shade optimistic, but the luck factor does seem to play huge in F1. And considering how experienced Gene Haas is at running a race team, the luck might just continue.

But for today… Well done Haas F1 Team!!! Way to Represent!!!