Australian GP – Haas F1 Fan Journal

2018 Australian Grand Prix

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!!!

2017 SEASON 2

The 2017 Formula 1 racing season is upon us, and the second for the Haas F1 Team. Ten teams are gathered in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix.

Kevin Magnussen has joined Romain Grosjean as the second Haas F1 driver. I think KMags will be fantastic. He is equally if not more aggressive than his predecessor and has demonstrated better race day judgement. There is not much we can talk about with the drivers. Their numbers and on track performance will say it all.

Roman Grosjean is easy to like and I believe still the best driver on the Haas F1 team. Esteban Gutierrez was a built choice that came along with the 2016 deal with Ferrari. Haas did not have much choice in that seat position. I believe Guiteeriez cost the team some points, but not any positions in the teams 8th place in the 2016 Formula 1 Constructors Championship, with 29 points. The Toro Rosso F1 Team finished ahead of them in 7th place with 63 points. No driver could have made a difference of 34 points.

I think Kevin Magnussen will prove to be the difference in 2017. I’m expecting the fight for points to be difficult, and the margins between team totals to be closer. When the margins are tight you bring in a closer, and KMags will prove to be the difference on that side of the garage and I do expect at least one dual points race. KMags is the closer!

The 2017 version of the Haas F1 car carries the VF17 nomenclature. VF stands for Very first and was originally used on their very first car for the 2016 season, the VF16. I guess Gene liked the sound of the name or just didn’t care, so we got the VF17. Next year we’ll probably get the VF18…

The Haas VF17 is striking.

Silver gunmetal Metallic Grey is featured. they are drawing from the same color pallet as last year, which is also the same for their NASCAR team. I was not a huge fan of last
years livery, through it did grow on me. By the end of the 2016 season we had all become accustomed to the car. If you’ll recall, white started out as the predominating color and somewhere along the line it went to silver. Now here we are at a darker gray, and I really like it. I don’t like the black along the bottom of any car. The details of the car become increasing more difficult to see on TV with dark cars. I was aghast with the all black McLaren car with the splash of a red, the Nike swoop.

So I like the 2017 Haas F1 livery, but I do not love it. The dark gray is very close to that of the 2014 Sauber. Hands raised, who else thought “Sauber” when they saw the 2017 Haas car?

Haas does not sell a full range of automobiles to this world wide market, like Mercedes, they’re selling C-N-C Milling Machines. Haas Automation has very little room for change in their color scheme. Moving away from the traditional color pallet does not serve the marketing of Haas Automation in any way.

Our expectations for future cars should be soundly set regarding the the color of any additional Haas cars. It would take a complete re-branding of Haas Automation to deep metallic Shelby Blue to give me the car I want. So I’ll stick with Red, grey and black. As long as that goose keeps laying golden eggs, I’m happy with gray cars. It also means we’re safe from pink ones too.

The performance of the 2017 car is… eh, we don’t know. No one knows. Testing helps us break the field down into class sizable chunks. But so much can change throughout the season, and it does. The Haas F1 Team has proven that they can match any other team on the grid when it comes to “race day management”. And it is that overall management aspect which Gene Haas deliverd from day one that allowed him to take advantage of opportunities when they appeared. I highly suspect that the Renault Team will be at the front of the pack within one year. So the way I see it, the beginning of the year is the best opportunity the Haas Team will have to steal some points early.

Even towards the end of the 2016 season, the Mclaren’s were responsible for some of those 10th place finishes, which kept the Haas team from the points. the Haas team finished in 11th place, EIGHT times in 2016. There were other teams with at least a couple of 10th place finishes; Williams, Force India. But no one had more 11th place finishes than Haas F1….. yea us

The Renault F1 Team will be a formidable threat to Haas. In many ways this is like the first car from the Renault Team. Last years car was an homogenization of a chassis designed for a Mercedes Engine matched with a Renault power unit. It all depends on that Renault engine. The 2016 Ferrari engines in those Haas cars did prove reliable. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I believe brakes were a bigger cause of race retirements than anything else… Brakes are technical and we’ll discuss that at another time. But with the demise of the Manor F1 Team, Haas has no one that they can really “kick around”. Every other team on the grid has strong backing and can provide competitive performance on race day

This is how Gary Anderson from Autosport weights the performance for the teams after testing… (he used his method of adjusting for variables like fuel load, tire type etc…

ADJUSTED LAP TIMES
1 Ferrari 1m19.202s
2 Mercedes 1m19.555s
3 Renault 1m20.146s
4 Red Bull 1m20.353s
5 Williams 1m20.876s
6 Sauber 1m21.374s
7 Haas 1m21.818s
8 Force India 1m22.059s
9 Toro Rosso 1m22.156s
10 McLaren 1m22.448s

What this indicates is a performance boost for the Ferrari teams. Toro Rosso has jumped to Renault power while Force India has remained with Mercedes power.

So, who knows….. My prediction, the team finishes 8th again. This is going to be a much harder fought 8th place for the American car.

2016 Australian GP

By the time the Australian Grand Prix finished, our time clocks were all mixed up. That Sunday was a sleepless blur and my post race blog never got written.

The sixth place “Win” by Romain Grosjean was simply incredible. All along I’ve been touting the engineering prowess of Gene Haas, and in the first race it all proved effective.

The Haas F1 Team is still in testing mode in my Book.

Our instant prayers were answered when we saw Fernando Alonso emerge from the obliterated carcass of his McLaren MP-4-31. And Esteban Gutierrez was not a welcoming way to start his stint in his new ride. But perhaps the safety demonstrated by both cars will further inspire the drivers to push their limits…

But I’m sure Esteban Gutierrez has had a burning nag since Australia to get back to it. All drivers are anxious for their next race. But to have a car taken out surely must also hold some unshakeable anticipation that never got unleashed. that pent up ambition for Esteban will push him. I just hope he does not dance over the edge.

I suspect Haas F1 Team crew chief is also feeling a bit of pent-up stress, waiting for that first ever pit stop under fire. I’m not exactly clear if it is Matt Borland run pit crew or not. But a F1 pit stop is like orchestrated landings on an aircraft carrier deck, but quicker. An effort on that magnitude of performance is driven from the top down, and it speaks to the team culture and discipline. I suspect and expect good pit times from the start. Anything under 4 seconds is acceptable, under 3.3 seconds would exceed expectations!

I must comment on Max Verstappen. I’ve now categorized him in the same group with Johnny Manziel and Justin Bieber. Arrogant is not the word I’d use… snot mouth punk is more like it. He seems to have an air of entitlement about him. All I’ll say is this… if this were the 1970’s Philadelphia Flyers NHL locker room, Fred Shero would have a picture of Vax Verstappen on the locker room wall and Dave “The Hammer” Schultz would have a new mission in life. There is a reason rookie hockey players don’t shoot off their mouth. Regardless…

GAME ON TORO-ROSSO!!!

And a final thought…

There seems to be a common understanding that thee Haas F1 Team exceeded expectations. I expected an 8th finish, so 6 is definitely better. But i was not surprised. I expected the car to be competitive. And Gene Haas seems to have an expectation that he can win in F1. He’s a super smart engineer that designs CNC machines… how fucking complicated is that? Plus he’s run a NASCAR “racing outfit” since 2003. Based on the 80/20 rule, enough of that experience will translate into a substantial benefit!

I’ll leave it at that for the 2016 Australian Grand Prix.

And for my BadgerGP team, the Epic Carbon Burners, we finished 293 out of 6667. Not bad, about the top 4%. and for the record my selections are posted at the bottom.

Hey Haas F1 Team, you notice I was all in Haas!

Epic Carbon Burners – Badger GP

Race Results for Australia

You scored 167 points
The Top score was 226 points
Your World Ranking was: 293 / 6667

Daniel Ricciardo

Race: 12
Bonus: 12
Qualy: 5

Romain Grosjean

Race: 8
Bonus: 39
Qualy: 5

Esteban Gutierrez

Race: 0
Bonus: 0
Qualy: 0

Mercedes

Race: 43

Ferrari

Race: 15

Haas

Race: 8

Your Predictions for Australia

Winner

Hamilton
Wrong!

2nd Place

Vettel
Wrong!

3rd Place

Ricciardo
Wrong!

Pole Position

Hamilton
Correct! +10pts

Fastest Lap

Vettel
Wrong!

First Retirement

Haryanto
Wrong!

Safety Car(s)

1 Safety Car
Correct! +10pts

2016 Australian GP – final thoughts before the race

We’ve had quite a day following qualifying. It turns out our boys Grosain and Guteriez is at the back on the 10th row in positions 19 and 40.

It is an odd coincidence that after 10 years te first change in qualifying occurs during the Haas F1 Team first race. As Haas fans we can find plenty of reason to be upset. Guteriez was on a Q2 qualifying flying lap when he times out and was eliminated. But this is all OK.

Having the Haas cars start at the back can give us an advantage. The goal in the first race is to finish. Two cars completing the race distance would mark a development milestone for the team. Turn 1 can be a bit fast in Melbourne. That right turn at Brabham can get real narrow as the track fades to a quick left bending turn. The flow of traffic can get narrow like a venturi. Starting from the back will allow the Haas cars to avoid any first lap excitement at turn 1.

In many ways, this is still testing for the Haas F1 Team. They still have not established a benchmark for the car. And there has been no basis to compare the drivers. This race will establish those things. We will see the performance of the VR-16’s improve as the fuel load lightens during the 58 lap race.

Bur for the fans… we are ecstatic. American F1 fans have never had a team for which they have a vested interest. The closest we came was Alexander Rossi’s 5 races with Manor last year. Realistically we need to wait for season 3 or a realistic chance to compete at the front. But my expectations are high.

I believe that Gene Haas has brought an entirely new dynamic to Formula 1. He is there because he LOVES RACING. In addition, he brings a certain credibility because he is the final decision maker in all things. Even Toto Wolf from Mercedes and Maurizio Arrivabene from Ferrari must answer to superiors. Gene Haas can act on anything he commits or chooses. this gives him an incredible psychological advantage over the other team principals that should not be under estimated. Everything I’m reading says that Gene Haas is also well liked by his peers and he’s been called a “true American” by those same guys in yesterdays press conference.

So tonight is more about pride. Pride for the accomplishment of being on the F1 grid and the manor in which Gene Haas got there. American pride is at an all time low. After years of loosing industrial manufacturing jobs to foreign outsourcing, Haas Automation is standing firm. And in today’s political climate, that is yet another distinction which is impossible to avoid.

As fans, it is an entirely new experience for us. American F1 fans are an after hours club of odd individuals that wake up all hours of the night for F1. We are rookie fans, and this is all new to us. The initial excitement will calm down one day, and a sense of normal will develope. But until then it’s piss and vinegar. And Gene Haas on TV with Will Buxton is nervous. He just wants to finish but he is smiling really big!

The worse thing i can do for any team or sport is to make a prediction. So I wont here… But my expectation is that the Haas F1 Team will have at least one car scoring points!

Game On!!! Go Haas F1 Team!!!

Richie OUT!

2016 Australian Grand Prix – final words before Haas competes

In less than 2 hours the Haas F1 Team will race under anger for the first time as qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix begin.

I’ve been tracking the Haas team from its inception, as have many F1 fans. But for Americans, it is an entirely new experience. We’ve watched F1 in marvel of the teams. We’ve supported the various drivers from around the world and have very few American drivers to back. But that is all changing now. We now have a team we can actually connect with.

The text from yesterdays team principal meeting has given Americans reason to be optimistic. I’m not going to quote the article, just paraphrase. It seems that Gene Haas has been accepted as a peer by the other team principles at the news conference; Cyril Abiteboul (Renault Sport), Toto Wolf (Mercedes), Maurizio Arrivabene (Ferrari), christian Horner (Red Bull Racing) and Gene Haas (Haas F1). given the opportunity to give Haas advice the other principals seem to think Haas knew what he was doing and the only concrete suggestion was to have good lawyers, which I think it’s clear that he does. But what i found astonishing is that there was actually suggestion that F1 could learn something from Haas about NASCAR.

Team owners are saying that I’ve long contended: as an engineer, Gene Haas is senior to most engineers on the grid. Technology aside, he’s learned 80% of what he need as a team owner from NASCAR. And what he did not learn will be easy for him to extrapolate. He is his own primary sponsor and carries full authority for his teams decisions, unlike any of his peers.

In addition, Haas loves racing. He has commented that he thinks they might have a better chassis than Ferrari. that is a bold statement from a first time F1 owner. But it shows a very competitive spirit. Haas is also on record stating that F1 drivers are not the best. He attributes the light weight of the car to support his claim…

Regardless, America has been waiting for Haas F1 Team. Gene Haas has given himself a two-year window to be competitive and learn the ropes. I suspect that two-year time frame is what he’s given himself to start winning. As a fan i’m ready to make bold mid-field predictions, but i think it’ll take a few races to get there. If they can finish 1 car in the first three races they will have met a baseline of reliability.

But for now… we are just ready for Qualifying. In two hours the Haas F1 Team will be on the grid, and they will be a team. I’ve been waiting so long with such anticipation I wont know how to act…. and I suspect I’m not alone. But regardless, Gene Haas has brought the Americans back to F1 and in a very proud style. We’ve heard many condescending comments from European F1 fans about Haas and their expectations. But now we can throw back. Americans are not fluent in the lore and history of F1. Our expectations are not set on the past. Our optimism is founded on a guy that is ready to take it to the world and a new FORD alliance for his NASCAR outfit. We’ve seen this before… dare I evoke the spirit of Carol Shelby on this hallowed evening? When that American Flag clad Haas VR-16 fires up its engines for qualifying and takes to the circuit, I’ll be thinking that competitive American racing spirit of Carol Shelby is alive and well. And perhaps Carol is in the back of the garage somewhere giving Gene Haas a big thumbs up! I know the rest of America is!

This is a very proud moment for American race fans!

Richie OUT!

2016 Australian Grand Prix – FP1 wrap

The team was a bit slow to get out on track, and was hampered by rain once they got there. At one point Grosjean and Gutierrez were running 6-7 in the order. But it was obvious that there was no pressure and they were running more in practice mode. their times ended at the bottom of the board. But I think it is safe to say that the teams primary intent was to get the car on the track. I suspect they had a list of things requiring followup and confirmation before getting ready to throw in.

One thing of note: Guiteries car, car #2, emerged with a white upper section where during testing it was gray. According to the livery regs, both cars must be the same. So the only conclusion is that they decided to go with the white on both.

There was a live interview with Gene Haas on NBC during practice. He was extremely transparent about the technology, he compared it to aerospace in it’s over complexity… which I read as… I can get more horse power cheaper, and complex does not mean faster… but he seemed to appreciate peoples interest in the technology.

It will be interesting to see what how the VF-16’s fared…

2016 Australian Grand Prix … FP1 starts in a few minutes

So we are at zero hour. After the long wait, we’re here… This the first race weekend. Early expectation is to just get through practice without any mechanical difficulties. My tendency is to over stress my expectations. But so much of my expectation is based on the fundamentals of what the Haas team is built on.

And Gene Haas has made a few bold statements, he loves racing. The cars look great in the standard Haas palet of colors and really paints a nice picture of all of his cars for that eventual picture.

To the drivers I say God Bless you all and may you all be safe. That said, GAME ON!!! The Americans are on the grid and WE ARE NOT FIELD FILLERS! Just finishing only means we can build a car… every race counts. And we will get points in the Australia, no doubt! And I love our drivers.

Richie OUT!