Tag: haas f1

2019 British Grand Prix

Romain Grosjean started the British Grand Prix in the 14th starting position, Kevin Magnussen the 16th.

At the end of lap 1… Magnussen 4 running 20th by the end of the first lap. The two Haas cars touche on the first lap, and they punctured each other rear tire. Magnussen was blue flagged on lap 3, he retired from the race on lap 8.

Romain Grosjean dropped 5 positions by the end of the first lap of the race. He was running 19th, of the 20 car field. Grosjean was lapped by the Mercedes Silver Arrows on lap 9. He retired from the race on lap 12.

Note* It was on lap 31 that the Sky F1 reporters decided to tell the “American audience” that Grosjean retired due to a lack of down force, and Magnussen a vibration.

The Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi spun out on lap 21. Lewis Hamilton was the first into and out of the pits, and with a new set of hard tires. Enough to take him to the end of thee race. Because of the safety car, and the position of the field at the time of the safety car, Hamilton was able to pit and reemerge back into first place. He would not have been able to do this under normal racing conditions, but the reduced speeds of his competitors from the safety car, the expanded approach time was enough to keep him in first place.

Lewis Hamilton won his 6th British Grand Prix. With 10 laps remaining, there were calls from the Mercedes pit were for Hamilton to pit for new tires. A defiant Hamilton finished the race on those same hard tires. His teammate Valtteri Bottas finished second, and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc would take the third step.

For Haas… they will regroup. The German Grand Prix is in two weeks; July 28th.

2019 Austrian Grand Prix

Kevin Magnussen finished fifth in qualifying, a blistering rate for the Haas car. He was given a five grid place penalty for an engine change, so he started 10th. His teammate, Romain Grosjean started 11th.

By the end of lap 2, Kevin Magnussen was still in 10th. Grosjean dropped 4 spots and was down to 15th. By lap 9 the Haas cars started to drop off. By lap 17 Kevin Magnussen was in dead last and Grosjean had dropped to 16th.

The problem for Magnussen was twofold. First of all, his car was past the line in his grid box. That required a pit lane pass through penalty. But the other problem, which effected both Haas cars were the tired. The tires on the Haas cars were developing a burnt crust on the outer layer of their tired. The inside of the tires were not heating up, and the cars were not performing.

The Austrian Grand Prix was a 71 lap race around the 2.7 miles Redbull ring. Lap 35 was the mid way point, and found the Haas car of Grosjean in 16th, and Magnussen in 19th positions. That is where the pair would finish.

The race was won by Max Verstappen in his Red Bull. The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was the car to beat all weekend . He was fastest in practice, and started the race on pole. Leclerc lead the race until lap 69, when max Verstappen lunged in a huge racing move to take the lead. Valtteri Bottas would take the third step of the podium… ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

For the Haas squad… the performance is difficult to accept. Obviously the team is doing everything that they can. The overheating of the tires is on the team; the drivers cannot overcome that difficulty. But I’m not to sure Grosjean is not facing other difficulties. Race after race he continues to lose positions on the first lap. These are positions he never gets back. The die is cast for 2019. I think it is time to start thinking about 2020…..

Next, Silverstone, and the British Grand Prix.

2019 Canadian Grand Prix


The 2019 Canadian Grand Prix will go down in history as one of the most controversial races in a long time. 

The race was won by Ferrari driver Sebestain Vettel. But the win was handed to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton after Vettel was handed a 5 second penaly on lap xx for an unsafe entry after cutting turn x and skidding across the grass and into hamilton’s racing lane. Everyone from Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansel, Jensen Button, Sky F1 analysys martin Mrundel, Karun Chandhok, Leigh Diffy, David Hobbs are among those who have called the stewards ruling incorrect. 

It seems that any of the other facts from the race are meaningless.  When Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansel both agree with your opinion regarding a Formula 1 racing, you’re on solid ground. 

But regarding the race…

Kevin Magnussen was the only Haas Car to make it to the third round of qualifying, but he kissed the wall of champions in the closing moments of Q2. As the rear of his car bounced off of the wall, the car spun around and hit the wall on the opposing side of the track. The qualifying session ended under the red flag created by the accident. Kevin Magnusssen was not injured. His crew was able to rebuild his car and he started the race from the pit lane, 20th position. He finished 17th. 

Romain Grosjean”s qualifying session was interrupted by Magnussen’s crash. As a result, Romain Grosjean did not get out of the second qualifying session and started 14th. He lost 4 positions on the race start when Alexander Albon’s Toro Rosso lost it’s front wing in a three wide converging incident. Grosjean would finish 14th. Both Renults finished in the points as Ricciardo and Hulkenberg finished 6th and 7th respectfully for a total grab of 14 points. Lance Stroll scored two points in the home grand pris for himself and Racing Point. And Dany Kvyat rounded off the scoring with 1 point in his Toro Rosso.

At one point in the race Kevin magnussen declared that it was the worst experiences he’s ever had in a racing car. One can only assume that his car could have used some adjustments on the setup. 

With this race behind us it is back to Europe for the French Grand prix on June 23rd. This will be Romain Grosjean’s home race. He will be anxious to perform for his home crowd. Let’s hope he can provide a good result along with his teammate. Well see you then!

2019 Spanish Grand Prix

The struggle for race performance has found the Rich Energy Haas F1 Team with only 8 points in the 2019 Formula 1 constructors championship. Kevin Magnussen has been the teams sole points winner while their star, Romain Grosjean, has languished with three retirements and an 11 point finish in China. The team has been strong in qualifying but find themselves down a position or two after the first few laps. The team has failed to maintain race pace.

The Spanish Grand Prix begins the European leg of the F1 season. And with the new continent comes new upgrades to the cars.

From the beginning of the weekend both cars were strong. Haas brought a slew of new upgrades, and the results on track were impressive. They were high on the leader boards throughout the practice sessions, within the top 10, and they locked out the fourth row of qualifying. Romain Grosjean will start the Spanish Grand Prix in 7th position while his teammate Kevin Magnussen will line up next to him in 8th. The two Haas drivers were separated by just .011 seconds in their final qualifying session. The cars are fast and the drivers continue to prove evenly matched.

By lap 17 of 66, the two Haas Cars maintained 7th and 8th position. Grosjean lead his teammate. The Haas duo were about 10 seconds behind Gasley’s Red Bull, who lagged Vettel’s failing Ferrari by 3 seconds.

After the cycle of pits, and a lap 52 safety car Kevin Magnussen was able to defend his starting position and finish in 7th place. Romain Grosjean was not able to maintain position throughout the pit cycles, but still finished 10th. This is Grosjean’s first point for the 2019 season.

The Haas F1 Team entered the Spanish Grand Prix with just 8 points, and have nearly doubled their total to 15. More importantly, they have leaf frogged both Alfa Romeo and Renault to move from 8th to 6th in the constructors world championship.

Next we are off to Monaco. It is difficult to predict how the Haas cars will perform, so we are keeping our expectations low, but our hopes hi!!!

Bon jour!

2019 Bahrain Grand Prix

The race was a disaster for the Rich Energy Haas F1 Team. The team had a strong weekend throughout practice, and had a very promising qualifying session as both cars reached Q3 and finished with the Haas car of Magnussen qualifying in P6, and Grosjean in P8. Grosjean was levied a 3 place penalty for blocking the Mclaren of Lando Norris, so the Haas cars started 6th and 11th respectively.

Lap 1 was the beginning to the end of romain Grosjean’s day. He was bumped off track in the first turn by the pink Racing Point Force India of Lance Stroll. Grosjean returned to the race in last place. He later retired from the race in lap 18 with damage sustained by the lap 1 impact by Stroll. Two races and two retirements for Grosjean. His season can only get better… we hope.

For Magnussen, he ended the race in P13. No points for the Haas team.

Magnussen lost one position by the end of lap one and was down to P7. Magnussen was loosing pace early and could not maintain pace. By lap 11 he was down to 14th position. He pitted on the 11th lap, returned in 15th position, which is where he would remain for the the rest of the race. With just 3 laps remaining, as if on queue, both Renaults of Hulkenberg and Ricciardo blew up and experienced catastrophic engine failure. It was almost scary how both engines failed at the same time. But those two retirements would inch magnussen up to P13, but still no points for the Haas team.

But as to the race, it was a an epic win for Lewis Hamilton, with his teammate Valtteri Bottas taking second. Charles Leclerc was leading the race with 10 laps remaining when he lost the HTU hybrid recovery unit on his Ferrari. Leclerc was under power, but slower. The two Mercedes Silver Arrows were able to overtake the wounded Ferrari, and max Verstappen was lining up the Ferrari himself when the two aforementioned Renaults failed, bringing out the safety car, and saving Leclerc from the clutches of Verstappen’s Red Bull. The race would finish under caution and Leclerc would take the first F1 podium in his short career.

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 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 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.